"It’s an imperfect model": Paul Finebaum expresses concerns about the new 12-team College Football Playoff format

After months of deliberation, the College Football Playoff finally approved the 5+7 model, which came about following the implosion of the Pac-12. That will see the five highest-rank conference champions get an automatic qualification and joined by seven at-large teams.

Despite the new format being popular within the landscape, ESPN's Paul Finebaum highlighted the potentially chaotic nature of the new format. The analyst reckons complexity would arise whenever the seeding of the best teams does not align with their actual strength.

“It’s so convoluted because anytime we don’t have the best teams being seeded like the best teams. It’s an imperfect model,” Finebaum said on Always College Football.

“But you and I know that to get sign-off in these rooms with people from all walks of life in all geographies, this is how they had to do it. But it is patently absurd that the No. 1 team and the best team in the country could get rated fifth in seeding, so it doesn’t make much sense.”

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Paul Finebaum believes it will take time for the College Football Playoff to get it right

While Paul Finebaum believes that the new College Football Playoff format has some flaws, the ESPN analyst noted that it will take some time before a perfect format can be brought on board.

Nonetheless, he noted that the current one is an improvement for the landscape.

“I think it’s something that will take time to get to where it’s done correctly,” Finebaum said. “And like it should be, but it’s still better. And I know this was not the answer that people wanted. It’s so much better than where we were.”

“We both had millions of conversations about the four-team playoff. It’s hardly ever been the four-best teams. It’s an amalgamation of special interests. And that’s how we end up getting where we’ve been, and this is better than that.”

There were a lot of controversies regarding the four-team playoff over the years. The opinion of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee most of the times lead to a frenzy among fans and media. The previous season was the peak after an undefeated Florida State missed out.

The new 12-team playoffs obviously place the landscape in a much better position. It's pretty much inclusive and ensures a much eventful postseason in college football.

Nonetheless, there are still a lot of corrections to make in the future, especially with the possibility of increasing participation to 16.