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Social media reacts to Indiana, SMU's decisive losses in College Football Playoff

craig meyer, usa today network
·6 min read

From the moment the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff bracket was revealed, a debate raged over who was and wasn’t included in the field.

Should SMU, despite a loss to Clemson in the ACC championship game, have earned the final at-large berth over Alabama? Was Indiana, even with a gaudy 11-1 record, worthy of a spot despite what ended up being a softer-than-expected schedule in the Big Ten?

The start of playoff games this week didn’t end those arguments. If anything, it only intensified them.

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The Hoosiers and Mustangs both suffered double-digit, largely lopsided road losses in the first round of the playoff. On Friday night, No. 10 seed Indiana fell to No. 7 seed Notre Dame 27-17 in a game it trailed by 24 with two minutes remaining while No. 11 seed SMU was drubbed by No. 6 Penn State 38-10 Saturday afternoon.

People from across the country who follow the sport — broadcasters, writers, analysts and even coaches — reacted to the results, with some using them as a justification for their belief that the playoff selection committee made mistakes on who it allowed in the field. Many of the loudest complaints came from the SEC, which had the second-most teams in the field, with three, but had three three-loss teams — Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina — among the first teams left out of the playoff.

Here’s a sampling of the reaction to Indiana and SMU’s CFP losses:

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Social media reacts to Indiana, SMU College Football Playoff losses

Indiana and SMU losing their College Football Playoff games by a combined 38 points in dominant fashion raised a variety of opinions, with some believing it to be an indictment of the playoff committee for selecting the Hoosiers and Mustangs for the final two at-large spots.

Others, though, countered with an argument that Indiana and SMU had pieced together playoff-worthy resumes and deserved to make the field, regardless of how they fared in their games this week.

Lane Kiffin trolls CFP committee

The loudest, or at least most prominent, voice piling on Indiana and SMU’s struggles was Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, whose squad was the third team left out of the playoff.

Many, however, rightfully pointed out that Kiffin’s 9-3 Rebels team could have made the playoff had it simply won at home against a 4-8 Kentucky team that managed only one victory in SEC play this season.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Social media reacts to Indiana, SMU losses in College Football Playoff