As we’ve all been desperately waiting for, Paul Finebaum has chimed in on Notre Dame’s selection as the fourth team in the College Football Playoff.
The Irish made the semi-final over the likes of Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Cincinnati who finished fifth through seventh in the rankings, respectively.
Finebaum appeared on ESPN’s “Get Up” and said of Notre Dame’s selection to the CFP:
“It was the right one but it was not a good choice at all,” Finebaum said, “Neither choice was really good. You could’ve done the same thing with Ohio State. This committee used the protocol that they had one significant win of the two…Notre Dame beating Clemson. Texas A&M didn’t really have a good cause. They played in a good conference but their signature win was over Florida, which suffered their third loss of the season.
“Let’s not pretend the committee doesnt think about the matchups…. As they were discussing….’Do we really want to see Alabama and Texas A&M in the semifinal? We see that game every year in the SEC. Or do we want to see Alabama-Notre Dame, the two greatest programs in college football history?’ We have our answer.” – Paul Finebaum on ‘Get Up’
I’ll listen to the argument that Cincinnati deserved a chance at the fourth overall ranking and a spot in the playoff but spare me cries for Texas A&M and Oklahoma.
If the goal is to find out who the best team is I would argue that Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma all forfeited their chances at a bid by getting blown out in both the Irish and Aggies cases and Oklahoma having lost twice eliminates them.
Enter Cincinnati, who despite being undefeated, clearly earned no respect from the committee. I legitimately feel bad for them as they did things right this season and had a fine team, but weren’t given the slightest of chances at a playoff spot.
Notre Dame is clearly not a perfect candidate but as is the case with the CFP, the College Football Playoff further proved just how imperfect it remains.