ESPN’s Paul Finebaum: Notre Dame should not be allowed in CFP again

ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum thinks Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff privileges should be revoked.

Finebaum, a longtime SEC personality, was on “First Take” Monday to talk about the Fighting Irish’s upcoming game against Louisville. He was part of a panel asked whether Notre Dame could return to the College Football Playoff for the second straight year and said no.

“I think they’re a really good team. I think they can be 10-2, but they are not going back to the playoffs. And frankly, they should never be allowed back to the playoff after their embarrassing loss to Clemson. They should be given a five-year probation,” Finebaum said while laughing.

Do you feel Finebaum was being serious or was he joking at all with his remarks? Maybe his penalty proposal was a laughing matter for him, but it seemed like he was being serious.

Recall last year many in college football thought Georgia deserved a spot in the CFP despite having two losses because of how well they played Alabama. The supposed evidence against Notre Dame is that despite going 12-0 in the regular season, they got spanked 30-3 by Clemson in the playoff.

Someone should tell Paul that might not be the best indicator of how undeserving Notre Dame supposedly was of the berth last year. Clemson went 15-0 and beat Alabama by 28 points — an even greater margin of victory than their win over Notre Dame. Maybe Notre Dame wasn’t undeserving of a berth last year; maybe Clemson was just that good.