Paul Finebaum on potential future Tide-Irish series: ‘Alabama should play Notre Dame all the time — it’s an easy win’
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You had to have known it was coming as soon as the rumored Alabama and Notre Dame series was reported by Tide Sports. As expected, Paul Finebaum took the opportunity to dunk on the Fighting Irish.
During his most recent Monday morning appearance on WJOX 94.5 FM radio program The Roundtable, the SEC Network host had this to say about Alabama potentially playing Notre Dame in a future regular season non-conference game.
“I like it, I really do. Alabama should play Notre Dame all the time — it’s an easy win,” Finebaum joked.
What’s unique about this potential series is the fact that Alabama is apparently willing to explore the possibility of scheduling a home-and-home series with Notre Dame. While the Crimson Tide have not shied away from any non-conference opponent in recent seasons, nearly all of these games have been one-offs on a neutral site.
Those games have become so popular due to the demand for television inventory during a weekend that’s open exclusively to college football, as Finebaum explained during his radio appearance. The SEC Network host also explained how the quality of the neutral site games are dictated by the quality of the teams playing in them — which can be tough to determine years out when initially agreed upon.
“You’re so dependent on how good these teams are going to be, and you just don’t know. (Alabama’s 2018 opening opponent) Louisville has been a really good team over the last few years,” the SEC Network host continued. “Having covered college football in a different era, as you guys have, I’ll never forget my first trip to Notre Dame with Alabama. That was just something extraordinary. It’s not quite the same going to Orlando or Jerry’s World (in Arlington), or to Atlanta. But these games are important, they are television rating bonanzas.”
Finebaum also went on to discuss why it’s so crucial to get these games on before the NFL’s regular season starts.
“The one thing I will say, you need these games on the first weekend because that’s college football’s showcase weekend,” Finebaum stated. “It’s a constant theme of some people, including me, but once you get to the second weekend, the NFL takes over. So you don’t need Alabama and Southern Cal on Week 2, you need them on Week 1.”
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
