ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum took aim at Notre Dame on Monday, calling the program’s reaction to its College Football Playoff omission “embarrassing” after the Fighting Irish missed the 12-team field and subsequently opted out of bowl season.
“They got it right, and the crying from Notre Dame is quite frankly embarrassing,” Finebaum said on ESPN's Get Up.
“Everything Notre Dame has done since the moment this was announced is really beneath a great institution that should stand for principles. Instead, they cried. They didn’t get their way, and then they said, ‘We’re taking our ball home like a five-year-old’ by not going to a bowl game.”
.@finebaum believes Notre Dame being left out of the CFP was the right move 👀 pic.twitter.com/AM9yOY8FmS
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 8, 2025
Finebaum argued the Irish had only themselves to blame.
“Notre Dame had very little to show on its resume. They’re not in a conference. That’s their own fault,” he said. “Had they joined the ACC, they would have played for the ACC championship, they would be in the playoff today, and they wouldn’t be a bunch of sniveling crybabies — really, the laughingstock of college football.”
Notre Dame opened 0-2 with losses to Miami and Texas A&M before winning 10 straight to enter Championship Weekend at No. 10. But after being idle, the Irish were jumped by Miami due to the Hurricanes’ Week 1 head-to-head victory, leaving Notre Dame as the first team out of the CFP field.
Needless to say, this was bound to happen at some point. But a three-loss Alabama was pushed into the final 12-team field after a 21-point loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship.
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