SEC admirer Paul Finebaum throws shade at Big 12 & Brett Yormark with his latest comment amid Media Days
College football analyst Paul Finebaum has aimed a cheeky dig at the Big 12 amid the conference's Media Day 1. Finebaum, who has worked with ESPN's SEC Network since 2013, also appeared to target Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, since his comments came just after Yormark claimed that the Big 12 has established itself as a top-three conference in the country.
Earlier on Tuesday, Finebaum made an appearance on the "On Texas Football" podcast and said he would continue to favor the Southeastern Conference, despite the four new team additions to the Big 12.
“I’ll take where the SEC is, adding Oklahoma and Texas,” Finebaum said. “If you spotted me a $1,000, I’m not sure I could tell you the four new schools in the Big 12 right now.”
In 2023, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF joined the Big 12. Meanwhile, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah are the four teams that left the Pac-12 to join the Big 12 this year, bringing the conference's total to 16 members. Despite the addition of eight teams in the past two years, on Media Day 1 Yormark said:
“The Big 12 is exploring all options. Two years later, I guess you could say we’re still open for business.”
Paul Finebaum explains how Oklahoma and Texas perfectly timed their departures from Big 12
Earlier this week, Paul Finebaum spoke about how the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns timed their moves perfectly to leave the Big 12 and join the Southeastern Conference.
"I don't think we knew three years ago exactly what was coming down the pipe," Finebaum said. "I think had OU (and Texas) stayed in the Big 12, it would have been slipping toward being obsolete."
Texas and Oklahoma officially became members of the SEC on June 30.