Paul Finebaum explains why Notre Dame is capable of going on deep run in College Football Playoff

Outside of undefeated and No. 1 ranked Oregon (12-0), no team is hotter than Notre Dame entering the 2024 postseason.

Winners of 10 straight since a Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois, the fifth-ranked Fighting Irish (11-1) are firing at all cylinders after a regular season-ending 49-35 win at Southern Cal on Saturday.

It’s because of that run — including averaging 47.2 points per game over its last five — that ESPN analyst and SEC Network host Paul Finebaum is “Paul-In” on Notre Dame making a deep run through the 2024 College Football Playoff.

“It seems like a couple of years ago when they lost to Northern Illinois and it was actually 13 weeks ago, and they have come back amazingly well,” Finebaum said Sunday morning on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “I’m really impressed with what Marcus Freeman has done. Yesterday they were in a tight game and then broke it open against Southern Cal. I think Notre Dame has a lot of runway ahead in the College Football Playoff.”

The Irish currently rank No. 5 in the latest CFP Top 25 poll, but should get a boost when the pentultimate rankings are revealed Tuesday following No. 2 Ohio State’s 13-10 loss to unranked Michigan in The Game on Saturday.

Of course, only seeding rank should be impacted as one-loss Notre Dame is guaranteed a Playoff at-large bid given its place in the Top-12. Depending on the results of Championship Weekend, the Irish could land anywhere from the No. 5-7 seeds and host a first-round game.

Dabo Swinney calls out CFP selection, fires shot at Notre Dame

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made his issues with the current College Football Playoff selection process known during a recent appearance on the Gramlich and Mac Lain podcast earlier this week.

“It’s the SEC-Big Ten Invitational and Notre Dame makes up their own rules. Always have. We’ve been on the ROY team forever. We have,” Swinney said. “It’s been SEC, Big Ten, Notre Dame and the rest of y’all. It’s been that way for my whole time here at Clemson. But guess what, check our records, you know, versus all of them. Check our records.”

The Tigers beat Alabama in 2016 and 2018 to win the national championship, and are 3-1 against Ohio State under Swinney. In addition, Swinney has a 4-2 record against Notre Dame as Clemson’s coach.

Clemson might not always get the respect that Dabo Swinney believes his program deserves, but the Tigers have consistently won at a high level. From 2015 through 2020 Clemson made the College Football Playoff all six years, winning two national titles and playing for two more.