Stephen A. Smith has been known to be tough on the Fighting Irish over the years and he certainly wasn’t crying any tears for Notre Dame after its upset loss to Northern Illinois.
On Tuesday’s episode of “First Take” with Paul Finebaum and others, Stephen A. had no hesitation declaring ND’s season to be over.
“Yea it is. Let’s stop this,” Smith said. “Listen, their strength of schedule right now ranks 52nd among FBS schools. … We’re in mid-September. And we’re sitting here and we’re saying two things. No. 1, they’ve got to run the table. And No. 2, they’ve got to pray that USC is big-time so the season finale against USC, hopefully they’ll elevate to a top-10 team in the nation, top-5 team in the nation. And then Notre Dame beats them, after running the table, by the way. And then they’ll make the playoffs. Nah, nah.”
Smith went on to say that it had nothing to do with his feelings about head coach Marcus Freeman but rather the lack of big name schools left on the schedule that could get them back into the CFP hunt.
“Of course I’m a fan of Marcus Freeman. I like the brother personally. I certainly don’t root against him,” Stephen A. continued. “But the facts are the facts with a schedule that is suspect.”
“And now it’s ranked as the 52nd toughest schedule in the FBS, combined with games like Georgia Tech and Army on the schedule, we’ve got to look at them and say, ‘Alright, man, handle your business against Louisville, handle your business against USC.’ That is your claim to the playoffs? It ain’t happening. Hell no. I can’t see it. It’s over, right now.”
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