As the crimson and cream confetti fell inside Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night, a clip from an October episode of ESPN\u2019s First Take went viral.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Indiana make the right move with Cignetti?\u201d Stephen A. Smith asked Paul Finebaum following the news that the Hoosiers had just signed their second-year head coach to a lucrative contract extension.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did not,\u201d Finebaum replied. \u201c\u2026 I\u2019m still not convinced that Curt Cignetti is one of the top coaches in America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen A. Smith: \u201cDid Indiana make the right move with Cignetti?\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul Finebaum: \u201d They did not\u2026I\u2019m still not convinced that Curt Cignetti is one of the top coaches in America.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/sMtnmk4EfP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n A mere three months later, Curt Cignetti was hoisting the College Football Playoff championship trophy.<\/p>\n In retrospect, the clip was obviously humiliating, and Finebaum admitted as much\u00a0while eating some much-deserved crow<\/a> this past week.\u00a0But for as much of a blemish as it was for the longtime SEC personality, one could argue that it was even more embarrassing for First Take, considering that he often provides the best college football analysis that ESPN\u2019s morning debate show has to offer.<\/p>\n Look no further than Friday\u2019s episode, which took place as news broke that the College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams for the 2026 season<\/a>. Rather than breaking down the nuances of the development, including the ongoing standoff between the Big Ten and SEC, the show devolved into a debate regarding the changes that will take effect for the 2026 CFP.<\/p>\n Never mind that these changes \u2014 including each of the Power Four conference champions receiving automatic bids and Notre Dame automatically qualifying with a top-12 ranking \u2014 were announced months ago and were already going to be implemented whether the 12-team field expanded or not. That didn\u2019t stop Stephen A. Smith, Cam Newton, and Ryan Clark from debating the adjustments as if it were new information, with Newton offering the most curious commentary regarding the Fighting Irish\u2019s new advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cNotre Dame hasn\u2019t been relevant in years,\u201d the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner exclaimed.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were just in the national championship game one year ago,\u201d host Shae Cornette, seemingly exasperated, reminded him.<\/p>\n Cam Newton: \u201cNotre Dame hasn\u2019t been relevant in years.\u201d<\/p>\n Shae Cornette: \u201cThey were just in the national championship game one year ago\u201d pic.twitter.com\/E59b7FaiAr<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n This has been par for the course when it comes to First Take\u2018s college football coverage in recent months, including Newton\u2019s typical pro-SEC slant<\/a>. If First Take is talking CFB, it\u2019s typically a safe bet that it will feature personalities who are traditionally more focused on the NFL, relying on tired tropes like SEC supremacy<\/a> to get them through the segment.<\/p>\n (To her credit, Cornette \u2014 an Indiana alum\u2014 noted that the Hoosier State has more wins in the CFP over the course of the last two years than the entire SEC combined.)<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t have to be this way.<\/p>\n ESPN possesses the industry\u2019s deepest roster of college football analysts and reporters. Heather Dinich has been one of the best in the business when it comes to CFP reporting, Pete Thamel is arguably the sport\u2019s top news-breaker, and you could take your pick from the College GameDay set of personalities who would improve First Take\u2018s coverage.<\/p>\n I don’t want to be a gate-keeper for college football. I generally hate that approach. Everybody is welcome.<\/p>\n But generalist sports media is mostly really bad at talking about college football.<\/p>\n \u2014 Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoATH) January 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n But for whatever reason \u2014 be it his lack of enthusiasm for the sport, preference to embrace debate, or something else \u2014 Smith seems content with his show\u2019s college football segments often consisting of surface-level, fallacy-filled shouting matches. Maybe that\u2019s simply the First Take formula. But such content typically fails to resonate beyond providing fodder for fans to dunk on once it\u2019s proven wrong.<\/p>\n Presumably, ESPN knows it can do better.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Front Office Sports\u2019 Ryan Glasspiegel<\/a> reported that the network is looking to expand Josh Pate\u2019s role<\/a>. Even more interesting than the personality involved is the explanation behind it, as ESPN wants to invest more heavily in its coverage of the country\u2019s second-most-watched sport.<\/p>\n That movement started this past season, with Pate and Bussin\u2019 With The Boys\u2018 Will Compton and Taylor Lewan making weekly appearances on Get Up and SportsCenter. The trio, however, was seldom seen on First Take, a show that could have benefited from their college football expertise.<\/p>\n Considering that Smith has often made it clear that he has a significant say in who appears on his signature show, it will certainly be interesting to see where First Take\u2018s college football coverage goes from here. Because it\u2019s hardly ideal when the best you have to offer is one of Paul Finebaum\u2019s freezing cold takes.<\/p>\n \t