Paul Finebaum just can’t help himself.

The SEC Network analyst once again is putting down defending national champion Clemson and its loyal fan base. And he insists that it is Clemson who is attacking him and Alabama and not the other way around.

“I don’t know what to say,” Finebaum said Monday on WJOX FM, a Birmingham, Alabama radio station. “One thing we try to do in the SEC – because we have so many national championships and have such a fervent fan base – is we have fun. We celebrate college football unlike some fan bases who are humorless, cheerless and incredibly paranoid.

“All we were doing was having some fun and Trevor (Lawrence) got upset, Josh Simpson, the offensive whatever, got upset. … The fans, the media that cover the ACC are even more bizarre. They must live in a bunker, not realizing college football is fun.”

Who is paranoid?

It surely isn’t Clemson. By the way, Finebaum, it’s John Simpson, not “Josh.” If you going to put him down, get his name right.

Clemson isn’t the one who started all of this. It all started when ESPN’s Chris Low, who covers the SEC mostly for the four-letter network, wrote an article late last month saying “Clemson owns the SEC.”

The article upset Finebaum, who went on the attack and started this entire back-and-forth between him and the Clemson fan base.

It ultimately led to Alabama and Clemson going back and forth at their respected SEC and ACC Media Days last Wednesday.

The first shot fired was by Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses when he said Georgia was the toughest team they played, not Clemson, when he was asked by SEC reporters. Simpson was then asked by The Clemson Insider and others at the ACC Football Kickoff if he wanted to respond to Moses’ comment, which he did by saying Notre Dame was the best team Clemson played last year, not Alabama.

It could have ended there, but Finebaum again went on the defensive, calling Simpson’s comments stupid and saying the Clemson program was petty and did not know how to handle success.

On Monday, he continued his paranoid assault on the Clemson program, bashing it for winning just three national championships in its 123-year history.

“What Dylan Moses said, he said,” Finebaum said, as reported by AL.com. “He was complimenting Georgia because he’s more concerned about Georgia than he is Clemson. I think every Alabama fan listening knows if Alabama and Clemson meet again in January, Alabama’s going to win the game. There’s no doubt in my mind, and I don’t think there’s any doubt in their mind.

“They’ve been down this road before. They are the best revenge team in college football history. They are concerned with themselves, and everyone in that silo called Clemson, South Carolina, gets so upset. Why don’t they celebrate? They’ve won two national championships. They’ve now won three in the school’s history. Of course, Alabama’s won three since 2012. That’s the difference. Alabama has won five of the last 10, Clemson has won three of the last 100, 150. I’m not being critical. They have a great program … but Clemson fans can not enjoy this celebration because they are so worried that they aren’t getting enough respect. It is utterly foolish.”

Finebaum is right, Alabama has won five of the last 10 national championships, but he shouldn’t be acting like a spoiled brat when he says it. He put down Clemson for winning three national championships in its entire history.

What Finebaum did not let those listeners know are the facts. Clemson is one of only 11 schools in the history of the Associated Press Poll era, which has been the standard in college football since 1936, to own at least three national championships. Granted, Alabama has won 11 of those, but no other school in the mighty SEC has won more than Clemson. Florida is tied with Clemson with three titles.

LSU, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, they can’t claim three “legit” national championships.

Those are the facts. Finebaum wants to make it look like Clemson is a lesser program to Alabama or anyone else in the SEC for that matter, is just another shot at Clemson as he continues his assault on the program.

The one thing he is right about is Clemson wants the respect it deserves for winning last year’s national championship game. Something he nor Alabama has given the Tigers since they won by 28 points back in Santa Clara, California on January 7.