Paul Finebaum Identifies a Prospect for College Football He didn’t see it coming.In less than 24 hours, the college football world will find out who the national champion for the 2024 season is. Two historic programs will face off on Monday night: the No. 7 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-1) and the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes (13-2). Most people are not surprised that the Buckeyes will be in the game. Ohio State started the season with the second-best odds to win it all, behind only the Georgia Bulldogs. On the other hand, Notre Dame’s inclusion is more unexpected. The Fighting Irish were tied with the Penn State Nittany Lions and LSU Tigers for the seventh-best odds.
During an episode of “The Matt Barrie Show,” SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum was asked about his thoughts on the national championship game if he had been informed about it during the offseason. He mentioned that he would have believed in one team but did not foresee the other team making it that far.
“I would have easily said Ohio State, I would have never believed Notre Dame,” Finebaum said. “Because it just seemed like Georgia was the team, maybe Texas. Maybe there were a couple of other ones that you would have figured into the conversation.”
That wasn’t just his thoughts before the season; he also felt that way during the season. Finebaum stated on “First Take,” after Notre Dame lost to the Northern Illinois Huskies (8-5), that the Fighting Irish’s chances of making the College Football Playoff were “pretty close” to being over. Finebaum said, “That was such a terrible loss. I mean monumental. It’s hard to put into words how destructive that was. Notre Dame now must depend on other schools.” Notre Dame has won 13 consecutive games, including six against ranked teams. This streak includes a road win over the then-No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies in their first game of the season. The Fighting Irish will be looking to secure another ranked win as they face Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN on Monday.
