Paul Finebaum on Big 12: Brett Yormark Has Turned a ‘Dumpster Fire’ into the ‘Third-Most Attractive Conference’
Paul Finebaum has been viewed by many as an enemy of the Big 12, rarely having anything positive to say about the conference.
However, it seems that Finebaum has come around to seeing things a little differently as of recently. A few weeks ago, Finebaum went on air with McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, saying that the conference is “ascending” as the conference looks to expand even further after adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF officially over the weekend.
“I believe it’s the Big 12 because the Big 12 is ascending, Greg,” Finebaum said. “The Big 12 looks like it made a very good move with the four schools that they got. I mean, we may have looked at it on the day it happened and go ‘Well that’s not exactly Southern Cal and UCLA and Oklahoma and Texas, but they’re all quality in their own way. So the Big 12 still seems to be desirous. I mean, you mentioned Rick George from Colorado. That might not be the end of it. Who’s trying to get in the ACC today? Nobody. Who’s trying to get out? Everybody.”
In an appearance on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, Finebaum went back on record talking about the Big 12, and even gives us a little insight as to why his opinions of the conference have changed recently.
“This was a league that I wouldn’t have spit on two years ago,” Finebaum said of the Big 12. “When Oklahoma and Texas moved to the SEC, it looked like they were broke. They had nowhere to turn.
“But give Brett Yormark credit. He walked in there and inherited a dumpster fire and he has turned that into, I think, the third-most attractive conference in the country right now, behind the SEC and the Big Ten.”
While a bit backhanded, Finebaum still showed that the Big 12 has ascended under Brett Yormark, at least in his estimation. Either that or ESPN’s new partnership with the conference is talking.
