Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Paul Finebaum Says Ohio State Is The 'Bad Guys' In National Title Game

Originally posted on The Spun | By Kameron Duncan | Last updated Jan 16, 2025 7:54 PM ET

The college football season will come to an end on Monday night, when Ohio State takes on Notre Dame in the national championship game. By the end of the night, one of the two most storied programs in the history of the sport will have one more national title.

Ohio State will be looking for their first championship in a decade, while the wait has nearly been 40 years for Notre Dame.

One prominent college football voice says that when it comes to who most of America will be rooting for, the Buckeyes shouldn't expect to have too many neutral observers on their side.

“I’ve always cringed about some of the dislike of Notre Dame where I grew up in the South – it had nothing to do with football and had everything to do with religion,” ESPN and the SEC Network's Paul Finebaum said, appearing on The Matt Barrie Show this week.

“Fortunately, this [Notre Dame team] is the antithesis of that. This is a very likeable Notre Dame team, and I find almost everyone I know is cheering for Notre Dame because Ohio State is now like the bad guys on the street. They’re part of the Big Ten, and everyone thinks they’re the only program that paid for a roster, and that’s OK with me.”

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 31: ESPN broadcaster, Paul Finebaum before the college football playoff semifinal game between the University of Georgia Bulldogs and The Ohio State Buckeyes on December 31, 2022 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

To say that Ohio State is "the only program that paid for a roster" is a dubious claim, as their opponent in the national championship game reportedly paid millions to recruit quarterback Riley Leonard out of the transfer portal.

Finebaum's point about Ohio State being in the Big Ten may be more applicable, as this will be the first time an SEC team isn't in the national title game in 10 years. Since Notre Dame doesn't belong to a conference, Ohio State can be made the scapegoat from SEC fans like Finebaum.

We'll see where neutral fans line up for support between the two teams on Monday, but after each team won three games in the College Football Playoff to get to this point, it's difficult to say that one of them isn't deserving of a national championship.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: