Football <\/p>\n
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. \u2013 When a team suffers a bad loss in the College Football Playoff, the discussion becomes whether they really deserved the chance to compete for a national championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year, that target is Indiana. It didn\u2019t help that the Hoosiers played in the standalone game Friday night on national television with millions watching. Everyone\u2019s attention was on them, and it was the only game to discuss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indiana certainly didn\u2019t help its case, either. The Hoosiers committed an early turnover, gave up a 98-yard touchdown run, were dominated at the line of scrimmage all night and had an uncharacteristically poor tackling game. They trailed 27-3 with less than five minutes to play, only to score two garbage-time touchdowns to make the final score look more respectable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti fueled the critics with pregame comments on ESPN\u2019s College GameDay by declaring, \u201cWe don\u2019t just beat top-25 teams. We beat the s\u2014 out of them.\u201d He and the Hoosiers didn\u2019t back that up, and it\u2019s fair for people to clap back.<\/p>\n “We don’t just beat Top 25 teams, we beat the s— out of them.” <\/p>\n Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti didn’t hold back on the Hoosiers’ success this season ???? pic.twitter.com\/M4FGhv6Xsy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) December 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Make no mistake, Indiana got beat badly Friday night in South Bend. It didn\u2019t look competitive live, and it felt like the Hoosiers played even worse after watching the game a second time. So of course, the loudest television and internet voices began arguing the committee made an egregious mistake by letting Indiana in the playoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe atmosphere was historic; the game was not,\u201d Kirk Herbstreit said Saturday morning on ESPN\u2019s College GameDay. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna sit here and say, \u2018Why was Indiana in?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, you are.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Indiana, with what you guys like to talk about, they have 11 wins. They gotta be one of the best teams,\u201d Herbstreit said sarcastically. \u201cIndiana was outclassed in that game. They should not physically \u2013 it was not a team that should have been on that field when you consider other teams that could have been there. It\u2019s no knock on Indiana.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, it is.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had a great year,\u201d Herbstreit compensated. \u201cBut we\u2019ve gotta move forward with the playoff and hope that the committee does a better job of weighing who the best 12 are versus who\u2019s the most deserving, because by golly, they got 11 wins. They didn\u2019t beat anybody, but they got 11 wins. That\u2019s a bunch of BS. We need to find the best teams, and last night it was incredibly evident standing on that field and watching the game and the way it played out.\u201d<\/p>\n “Indiana was outclassed in that game.”@KirkHerbstreit<\/a> on Indiana’s first-round CFP loss to Notre Dame in South Bend. pic.twitter.com\/Tm7PMKX9Ay<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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