Brady Quinn calls out ESPN, says they used Notre Dame as 'pawn' in CFP selection show

Brady Quinn is livid with ESPN for how it covered Notre Dame during the College Football Playoff selection show. The former Fighting Irish QB took to social media to call out the network, claiming they used Notre Dame as a “pawn” for talking points.

The Fighting Irish made the decision not to play in a bowl game as a result, something that was later criticized by a number of ESPN analysts, including Matt Barrie. But Quinn, who works for FOX Sports, wasn’t having any of it.

“So folks at @espn are upset ND isn’t playing in a bowl game after weeks of folks politicking against the lack of conference affiliation, using them as a pawn for their CFB playoff selection show, having the ACC network play the UM/ND game on repeat for 48 hours during Conf Champ week BUT now it’s a bad look they don’t want to serve ESPN’s best interest by playing in an exhibition bowl game? Got it,” he wrote on X.

Notre Dame had been a constant in the College Football Playoff rankings, being slotted as high as No. 9. However, the Fighting Irish dropped to No. 10 in the penultimate rankings as Alabama, which was playing for the SEC Championship, surpassed them.

There had also been much debate about Notre Dame and Miami, which played each other in Week 1. Despite the Hurricanes winning the head-to-head matchup, the Fighting Irish were ranked ahead of them in every week leading up to the final rankings.

However, despite neither team playing in conference championship week, Miami moved ahead of Notre Dame in the rankings on Sunday to claim the last at-large bid. Alabama stayed put at No. 9 in spite of a three-touchdown defeat against Georgia in the SEC title game.

It was a decision that left a lot of Fighting Irish fans rightfully confused as to why Miami had not been ranked ahead of them all along. Nothing changed on either team’s resume to warrant the Hurricanes jumping ahead, as it seemed the committee simply changed its mind regarding the head-to-head results.

It’s understandable that the Fighting Irish are upset about the last-second leapfrog, but their decision to forgo playing in a bowl game entirely is sure to get plenty of reactions. In Brady Quinn’s mind, however, it’s completely reaonable given ESPN’s coverage of Notre Dame.