ESPN First Take slams Notre Dame for independence in argument to have Alabama in playoff

Most of the ESPN First Take Monday panel feels the College Football Playoff committee made the right decision by keeping the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 9 after losing to the SEC Championship and dropping Notre Dame out of the field in favor of Miami.

Stephen A. Smith feels the fact the Fighting Irish did not play in the conference championship game justified the committee’s decision.

“I’m a fan of Marcus Freeman,” Smith said. “I think he’s a phenomenal coach. They won 10 straight games after losing their first two by an average of 29.7 points by the way, let’s not forget that. I understand that. And then you would have a point and it would be undeniable if Notre Dame wasn’t sitting at home while Alabama was playing in an SEC championship game against the team they had already beaten on the road in Athens, Georgia a few weeks earlier. Now, don’t get me wrong, I had trepidation about Alabama because they got smoked. I saw the game from start to finish. Georgia whipped their ass, and it had me looking at Kalen DeBoer yet again, because I just said, “You know what? With Nick Saban, win or lose, you’re gonna see more fight than that.” I just thought they got whipped But in the same breath, it was against Georgia that this happened, and it was in a conference championship game. And I do think that we have graduated to a point where it is time to hold Notre Dame accountable for its football independence, as opposed to celebrating it, their lack of connection to a conference. You don’t get to get rewarded for that.”

Heisman trophy winner, Cam Newton was featured on the show, and he sided with Smith.

“This has been a strategy that Notre Dame has been doing since the college football playoffs have existed,” Newton said. “And the truth of the matter is I’m not a bigger fan of the SEC more than I’m a fan of this. Quality in opponents should be the only metrics that mattered in college football playoff selection. The quality of opponents. Now, when you start to see Notre Dame and who they’ve played throughout the year, these are the biggest question marks because the true quality opponents that they did play.”

The Fighting Irish was the first team out.