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Paul Finebaum Blasts Notre Dame As ‘Laughing Stock Of College Football,’ Says Brand No Longer Sexy

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December 9, 2025

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When you’re right, you’re right! And Paul Finebaum is most certainly right here!

The fallout from Notre Dame’s bombshell Sunday decision to skip a bowl game after missing the 2025 College Football Playoff kept reverberating through the sport Monday, as analysts dissected every factor that left the Fighting Irish outside the bracket (the answer: Miami beat them) and debated what the move means for the future of the postseason (the answer: Notre Dame rigged it).

One of the individuals weighing in was ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, who joined the Monday edition of “First Take” and openly questioned the current strength of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish brand, pointing to the program’s sliding TV ratings. (RELATED: ‘Farce And Total Waste Of Time’: Notre Dame Pulls Incredibly Weak Sore Loser Move Amid College Football Playoff Drama)

“Notre Dame makes all that money off that NBC contract, but does anybody watch these games? No,” said Finebaum. “The problem is they think they’re great, but they’re not. They’re not the draw they used to be. That has nothing to do with the Playoff, it just has to do with the fact that their brand – as good as they say they are – isn’t as good as the SEC brand or the Big Ten brand.”

PREACH!

Paul Finebaum insists no one is watching Notre Dame on NBC… 🤔 pic.twitter.com/qE6ivm2nwo

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 8, 2025

And that’s not all, Finebaum also blasted Notre Dame as the “laughing stock of college football” while making another appearance Monday on ESPN’s “Get Up!”

“Notre Dame had very little to show on its resume. They’re not in a conference, that’s their own fault. They think they’re too good to be in a conference,” said Finebaum, per USA TODAY. “And had they joined the ACC, which they by the way, they are a member of in every other sport, they would have played for the ACC Championship game, they would be in the playoff today. They wouldn’t be a bunch of sniveling crybabies and really quite frankly in my opinion, the laughing stock of college football.”