Of the many reactions to the way Notre Dame handled being snubbed by the 2025 College Football Playoff committee, and there were many, perhaps no one has been more scathing than ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.
The SEC radio host has called out Notre Dame’s fanbase and claimed no one watches their games on NBC in the wake of their decision to skip a bowl game altogether after getting passed over by the CFP.
And he’s not done yet.
Finebaum, appearing Monday on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, called Notre Dame’s decision “a disgrace.”
“Just simply a disgrace. It was a loser look. There’s no way of getting around it,” Finebaum said. “They didn’t get in, and they took their ball and went home.”
Notre Dame has lobbed accusations at the ACC, with which it has a scheduling and bowl relationship, for not supporting it in the lead-up to the CFP. Finebaum joined the chorus of those who think the Fighting Irish would save themselves a lot of headaches by just joining the conference outright.
“How many times do we have to say that Notre Dame plays with fire every time they take another year without a conference?” Finebaum said. “If they had played in the ACC, they would have been in the ACC Championship Game. They would have won the ACC Championship Game, and they’d be off and running.”
He also went hard at their decision not to play in a bowl game and what that says about their program.
“You go to the bowl, and you have a good performance, you end your season on a high note,” Finebaum said. “… Instead, the conversation today all over the country is, ‘Should Notre Dame have been left out?’ and ‘Should they have gone to a bowl game?’ How do you win as an institution when you walk away?”
Finebaum also singled out athletic director Pete Bevacqua, head coach Marcus Freeman, and the other leaders of the football program for setting a bad example.
“If you’re a leader at a school like Notre Dame, which is supposed to stand for everything that is right, you don’t come off like a petulant seven-year-old who didn’t get his way on the playground,” he said. “That’s exactly what they look like today.”
Don’t expect Finebaum to be invited to South Bend for a tailgate anytime soon.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.