A whole lot of changes have been proposed since President Trump announced a committee to look into what’s plaguing college athletics. From limiting NIL to limits on what coaches can earn, the list goes on. Now, Paul Finebaum has his own proposal: a change to the new schedule of the Army-Navy game.

“You have to work around the Army-Navy game,” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubellic In The Morning. “I realize what the President’s done, and that’s fine. That time slot is written in the stone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play Friday. That doesn’t mean you can’t play early and late. You just simply have to say, ‘We don’t care if the NFL is going to play or not. And I think it’s also worth one more shot at the top people in college athletics.”

“Maybe even this presidential commission goes to the NFL and says, ‘Listen, you have ripped us off across the board on Black Friday and every other imaginable date. Do you think you could back away a little bit in December while we’re having our most important opening two weekends?”

On March 20, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order described as “Preserving America’s Game.” The order directed the FCC and the Department of Commerce to work with the NCAA and other TV networks to make sure that the second Saturday in December is dedicated entirely to the Army-Navy game. As such, “nobody’s going to play football for four hours… It’s preserved forever for the Army-Navy game.”

As a result, the NCAA and other associations involved in broadcasting must prevent scheduling conflicts during games. This was done so that the extended playoffs calendar does not encroach on the second weekend of December.

Finebaum appreciates the President’s order but would rather use the rest of the week to schedule other games. Currently, the college football regular season concludes with the conference championship games the week before the Army vs. Navy game. That means during that week, it’s the only game on. As a result, it results in massive eyeballs. It is set to remain the same this upcoming season.

However, there are discussions to expand the playoffs from 12 teams to 24. That would mean more games, and the ‘quiet’ window may get utilized. In contrast to college football, the NFL games are still on during that week. They are in their Week 14 or 15. That means games on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday.

The professional league receives more priority whenever there is a clash with college football. This respect for the NFL is what Finebaum wants out of the way, as far as the Army-Navy game is concerned.

It is no news that college football has a messy calendar, with the College Football Playoffs often extending into the NFL postseason in January. To complicate things, the transfer portal opens around the same time. But Finebaum thinks all of this could be simpler if week 0 were canceled.

Paul Finebaum agrees with the week 0 cancellation

There are active proposals to eliminate Week Zero in college football. While the games count towards regular-season records and rankings, they feature a limited international schedule that prevents most teams from beginning their seasons early enough. As talks continue regarding its cancellation, Finebaum has shared his thoughts.

“I think, Greg, we’ll see a week zero. I mean, that’s already in the works. I don’t think you can really go beyond that. I’ve always thought that was a good idea. I thought we would waste that first week with a couple of games, one in Ireland and a couple here and there. Let’s just start it that weekend.”

An earlier week 1 gives teams more weeks to play, prevents the problems that may arise from the Army-Navy game’s exclusivity, and improves player health and safety. All that remains is for these proposed changes to become official to improve the quality of college football.