The fate of college football and college athletics could hang in the balance this week as President Donald Trump brings dozens of power brokers and big names in sports to a roundtable in Washington DC at the White House. And even before it gets started there are serious questions over whether or not it even has a chance to accomplish anything of value.
And you can count Paul Finebaum among those who want to see action and not just pontification.
There are few people as well versed in college football as the longtime voice of the SEC and ESPN personality. But as we know from his dalliances with a possible United States Senate run representing Alabama last fall, Finebaum has also involved himself in the political world. And his experience with both arenas gives him a unique perspective on the roundtable assembled by Donald Trump in Washington DC that involves everyone ranging from golfing buddies Nick Saban and Urban Meyer to Tiger Woods and Marco Rubio. And yes, all of this will still be happening after Trump, Rubio, and co. launched war in the middle east by bombing Iran.
Finebaum was a guest on McElroy & Cubelic on WJOX in Birmingham with ESPN and SEC Network colleagues Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic and was asked about the roundtable and its possible impact on the sport. Amidst much skepticism, Finebaum wants to see something substantive actually coming out of the meeting instead of it being a circus that’s all for show.
“The easiest thing, guys, is just to say this is ridiculous. And I read the other day, ‘Why is Nick Saban going?’ Why is anybody going? The bottom line is this. If something doesn’t happen very quickly, and I mean in the next short period of time, we’re talking about weeks, not years, then this thing could blow up,” Finebaum warned. “However it came about, I’m in favor of. The question now becomes, with some of the most powerful people in Washington in the same room, including the most powerful person in the country, can anything get done or will it be a circus? Will it be just another show?”
As we all know, college athletics and college football specifically does not have a great history of getting things done. And when it comes to this roundtable group, it’s equally as strange who is there as opposed to isn’t there. Bryson DeChambeau and Ron DeSantis are present but no current NCAA representative or college athlete is involved. Trump’s executive order from last summer hasn’t moved the ball forward an inch towards any progress on reshaping or modernizing college athletics.
And the biggest problem is nobody seems to want to take any responsibility to step forward. Even though Nick Saban is continually touted as a potential czar or commissioner of college football, he has no actual interest in that job. And the NCAA has made it clear that they are in no way equipped to take on the task either, with their hand constantly outstretched to congress to take action.
But at this point, Paul Finebaum doesn’t care who it is, he hopes somebody steps up to make a difference in the current state of play, even if it’s someone from LIV Golf.
“Let’s not forget the president issued an executive order in July that was supposed to implement certain things. We don’t need any more shows in college football. We need action. I just hope that maybe somebody in this room, I don’t care who it is, whether it’s Saban, whether it’s Urban Meyer, whether it’s Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau, it doesn’t make any difference to me, can say something compelling enough for the president and his people to say ‘let’s go make this happen.’ And so far it hasn’t happened,” Finebaum added.
“I know people are saying, ‘aren’t we at war?’ All these things are true. But this is still going to go on and at least for ninety minutes to two hours everyone that matters in this bubble will be paying attention so the key isn’t for soundbites, the key isn’t to grandstand, the key is to actually get something implemented however that is. This is one of the most critical moments that the sport has had recently.”
Is this really where college athletics and college football finds itself in 2026? Depending on Bryson DeChambeau to craft a breakthrough or hoping that Marco Rubio can take a break from running Venezuela and war in the middle east to develop a complete and coherent NIL structure across college sports? Given how college sports have been run for the past generation, nothing could be more fitting. But the harsh truth is that anything of substance happening in Washington will make Indiana’s national championship run under Curt Cignetti look ordinary by comparison.
About Matt Yoder