ESPN's Paul Finebaum 'Hasn't Stopped Laughing' at FSU Since Georgia Tech Upset

He went on to blame the fanbase for potentially distracting the team in Dublin.

Paul Finebaum, radio and ESPN television personality, gets ready to speak on television near activities outside the Superdome, before of the College Football Playoff National Championship game in New Orleans Monday, January 13, 2020. Pregame Fans Clemson Lsu Football Cfp National Championship New Orleans / Ken Ruinard / staff, The Greenville News via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The Florida State Seminoles dropped their Week '0' matchup against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 24-21, in heartbreaking fashion. As seconds dwindled in the fourth quarter, Georgia Tech kicker Aiden Birr sunk a 44-yard field goal to send the 'Noles home with their first loss of the season. It was their first ACC matchup of the season, kicking off conference play with a mark on their record.

There was even more pressure on the game with the new 12-team playoff format this season and, on top of that, Florida State fans have been feuding back and forth with ESPN personalities with relentless vitriol coming from both sides after FSU was historically left out of last year's College Football Playoff despite being an undefeated conference champion.

READ MORE: Five Players On FSU's Offense Who Deserve More Snaps Against Boston College

One of those personalities is ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum who has repeatedly mocked the Seminole fanbase over the ordeal and when Finebaum made his latest appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, he was asked if he thought that the outside noise affected the team's mindset heading into the game.

"It is hard to believe that it did. But it is certainly easy to point to all that as opposed to the fact that they look like they just got out-muscled and out-coached at various parts of the game," Finebaum said. "But yeah that was the story of the offseason for all of the screaming and hollering from Florida State fans and the accusations. "

Finebaum went on to say that he's exonerating the coaching staff or players for this one and placed blame for the loss solely on the Florida State fanbase, adding that he hasn't stopped laughing since.

"You know who is to blame? It is not the coaching staff it is the Florida State fans. They acted like fools and they never stopped. Even during the pregame show, they continued to show their rear end and that's why I haven't stopped laughing."

The barbs from Finebaum continued to fly as he called the Seminole fans disliked and disrespected across college football and the program itself he said was on an island even in its own conference. There is an active lawsuit between the ACC and multiple schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference including Florida State to leave the ACC.

"This is a program that has isolated itself, that is on an island, whose fanbase is disliked and disrespected not only by people just walking down the street in Birmingham but by the league. This is a program that literally went scorched earth against the league that it was in—that it chose, by the way, 30 years ago over the SEC—because it did not want to deal with the rigors of the SEC week in and week out."

While the road to the 2024 College Football Playoffs won't be an easy one, there is still a route Florida State can take to make a championship appearance in their conference and earn a playoff berth. That path starts again when Boston College makes a trip to Tallahassee, FL, on Monday, September 2. The 'Noles open up as 17-point favorites in the bout, which is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. EST.

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READ MORE: Former FSU Football Star and Buffalo Bills WR Keon Coleman Shuts Down Reporter

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