These days, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum is having a hard time handling the fact that there won’t be an SEC team in the national championship game for the second straight year.

Ohio State and Notre Dame will meet in the first title game in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. It’s a matchup that never would have happened had the CFP not expanded the field this year.

Clemson made the field, of course, winning the ACC but having to go on the road to face Texas in the first round. The Tigers lost, but in the wake of that loss the Tigers are managing to keep most of their key talent that can return for another run in 2025.

Clemson is even using the transfer portal to bring in a few key pieces and had another strong class enroll early to begin getting ready for next season.

Not that Finebaum is paying attention. He said as much to a caller during his daily show on ESPN. Why isn’t he keeping up? Well, he doesn’t see the Tigers as relevant anymore.

“I must confess, I’m not really all that keen on reading about Clemson recruiting,” Finebaum said. “I try to read about relevant teams in college football. We talk about the top, the best. Clemson’s not really that relevant anymore. I mean, they snuck into the playoff, and they got ushered right out of the playoff.”

Meanwhile, he’s licking his own wounds after his beloved conference lost its final participant, Texas, when it fell to Ohio State. Texas has only been in the SEC for one year. But he’s taking it hard.

Finebaum told ESPN’s Matt Barrie that the loss is “cause for concern.”

“It’s really amazing when you think about it,” Finebaum said. [The last time the SEC missed the title game] was before Saban. Urban Meyer had just arrived at Florida. Les Miles was about to start roaming the sidelines. To think that we’re in that moment is cause for a lot of concern, at least in the southern part of the world.”

Perhaps Finebaum should be more concerned about what’s happening in his backyard than Clemson’s, given that the Tigers have a more positive trajectory than the ESPN commentator seems to believe — not that he’s paying attention of course.

This year’s trip was the program’s seventh in the CFP, which is second only to Alabama. Under coach Dabo Swinney, the Tigers have won two national championships and have reached the championship game in two other trips.

Entering 2025, the Tigers have put together a stacked roster, with most of the key players from their ACC championship team that can return on their way back, including quarterback Cade Klubnik, who should be a Heisman contender next season.