The Indiana Hoosiers lost to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Friday night in the first round of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
Box score watchers may think the Hoosiers kept it close—but the 27-17 final was nowhere near representative of how the contest went. The Fighting Irish controlled the matchup all night long, with Indiana putting together two garbage-time touchdown drives in an otherwise dominant Notre Dame performance.
On Saturday morning's edition of ESPN's College GameDay, Kirk Herbstreit shared his thoughts on the first-ever non-neutral site College Football Playoff game, and didn't mince words on Indiana's inclusion in the tournament:
"The atmosphere was historic. The game was not," he explained. "And I'm not gonna sit here and say, 'Why was Indiana in?' But Indiana, with what you guys like to talk about, 'They have 11 wins. They gotta be one of the best teams!' Indiana was outclassed in that game."
"Indiana was outclassed in that game."@KirkHerbstreit on Indiana's first-round CFP loss to Notre Dame in South Bend. pic.twitter.com/Tm7PMKX9Ay
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) December 21, 2024
Herbstreit later added: "It was not a team that should've been on that field when you consider the teams that could have been there."
For context, Indiana—seeded No. 10—was the second-to-last at-large bid to make the tournament ahead of only SMU. Miami (10-2), Ole Miss (9–3) and South Carolina (9-3) were left just outside the bracket.
The inaugural 12-team playoff continues on Saturday with SMU visiting Penn State, Clemson visiting Texas, and Tennessee visiting Ohio State. Here's to hoping we get some more competitive matchups.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kirk Herbstreit Relays Harsh Reality About Indiana's CFP Loss to Notre Dame.
