Paul Finebaum calls Notre Dame's playoff hopes a 'lost cause' before season-opener

The path to the College Football Playoff is a tough one for No. 5 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish start the year against No. 2 Ohio State and also have matchups with Clemson and USC on the schedule.

Before Marcus Freeman’s group even played a down, SEC Network host Paul Finebaum dashed Notre Dame’s CFP hopes.

Appearing on “Get Up” on Tuesday, Finebaum painted a dark picture of the Fighting Irish’s chances of making the CFP. He said Ohio State is still facing plenty of pressure with such high expectations, but stood by his prediction that the Fighting Irish would lose the game. Then, he said they likely won’t beat two of the better teams on their schedule — and their CFP hopes are a “lost cause.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

“I think Ohio State has all the pressure on them because we just think — we’ve been told by the experts — that Ohio State is just going to roll over them. So I do think that part of the game helps Notre Dame except the problem is … Notre Dame is down a little bit,” Finebaum said. “They’ve had some injuries. And they’re going up against an offensive juggernaut. … Quite frankly, it sounds great that they can lose by six, and then beat Southern Cal and beat Clemson, but that’s not going to happen. So we are spending a lot of good oxygen here on a lost cause. Notre Dame is not going to be in the playoffs.”

Heather Dinich explains how Notre Dame can make the College Football Playoff

ESPN reporter Heather Dinich, however, outlined Notre Dame’s potential path back to the CFP — even with a loss to Ohio State.

If the Fighting Irish can beat USC and Clemson and those teams manage to win their respective conferences, Dinich said the Fighting Irish could make a strong case for a CFP appearance. Because of its independent status, Notre Dame doesn’t play in a conference championship, which means the route to the Playoff is a tough one.

The Fighting Irish have to be, without a doubt, one of the top four programs in the country. Two wins over conference champions could build that case, Dinich said.

“Here’s why if it is a close game [against Ohio State], you don’t write [Notre Dame] off entirely,” Dinich said. “Remember, they play Clemson and USC. What happens, Greeny, if they win the rest of those games on their schedule, Clemson wins the ACC and USC by some chance wins the Pac-12? You’ve got a one-loss Notre Dame with a close loss to probably the Big Ten champs and two wins against Power 5 conference champions? You’re looking at a very strong resume for the Irish without a conference championship game.

“But the reality here is if they lose that game, they’ve got to win out and they’ve got to look the part because I go back to that protocol: unequivocally one of the four best teams.”