Paul Finebaum: Notre Dame's path back is almost nonexistent after loss to Texas A&M

Notre Dame suffered a devastating home defeat in its second game of the season for the second year in a row with Saturday’s 41-40 loss to Texas A&M. But after rebounding following last year’s Northern Illinois setback to win 13 straight and play in the College Football Playoff national championship game, another potential Playoff run might already be wishful thinking this time around.

Fresh off its second-straight loss in a Top 25 showdown to open the 2025 regular season, both coming by a combined four points, the 24th-ranked Fighting Irish (0-2) face impractical odds to once again make the College Football Playoff‘s 12-team field, even if Notre Dame manages to win out.

In fact, ESPN firebrand host Paul Finebaum has already declared the Irish’s 2025 Playoff hopes “nonexistent” after a missed extra point try proved to be the difference in a back-and-forth battle of wills against the No. 10 Aggies on Saturday night.

“We’ve been talking for a couple of weeks now and all of our friends have whispered, ‘Keep your eyes on the Aggies,’ and they proved it last night. And as big as that was for Texas A&M, it was equally painful and a body blow to Marcus Freeman who everyone loves and there’s so much to love there,” Finebaum told fellow ESPN host Matt Barrie in Sunday’s episode of The Matt Barrie Show podcast. “But you can’t miss a point-after, you have to finish the job. And their path back (to the Playoff) is almost non-existent.”

Paul Finebaum: Notre Dame’s Playoff hopes ‘a longshot’ after 0-2 start to season

While none of the final 10 games on Notre Dame’s 2025 schedule are hardly unwinnable, and the Irish should be favored in all but one or two of them depending on how the rest of their schedule unfolds, making the Playoff’s 12-team field as a two-loss independent might be an insurmountable task, according to Finebaum. Not helping matters is the reality that the only other currently ranked team on the Irish’s 2025 schedule is current No. 25 USC, and there’s no guarantee the Trojans will still be ranked when they travel to Notre Dame on Oct. 18.

“You need everything to go your way, you need Texas A&M and Miami to be in the Top 10, and you’re begging for Southern Cal to be great so when you beat them, you have a real big win,” Finebaum added. “And right now, that’s a longshot.”

The No. 24 Fighting Irish opened as a 27.5-point home favorite ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Big Ten cellar dweller Purdue (2-1). And if Notre Dame is going to ultimately make its case to the CFP selection committee at the end of the season, it’ll start with a big win over the Boilermakers on Saturday.