Matt Leinart on the CFP, NFL draft prospects and the Heisman winner
Football legend Matt Leinart sits down to talk college football and reveals details about his partnership with Abbott and raising awareness of anemia in the US
From the moment the initial 12 team College Football Playoffs brackets were revealed, a debate raged about who was and wasn’t in the field.
Bark SMUdespite a loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, has earned the final at-large berth over Alabama? Where Indianaeven with a gaudy 11-1 record, worth 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.
The Hoosiers and the Mustangs both suffered double-digit, largely lopsided road losses in the first round of the playoffs. 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 left 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 justification for their belief that the playoff selection committee made mistakes about who it allowed on 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 playoffs.
Here’s a sampling of the reaction to Indiana and SMU’s CFP losses:
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 dominating fashion drew a variety of opinions, with some seeing it as an indictment of the playoff committee for picking the Hoosiers and Mustangs for the final two at-large spots.
Others, however, countered with an argument that Indiana and SMU had put together playoff-worthy resumes and deserved to get on the field, regardless of how they fared in their matchups this week.
Lane Kiffin trolls the CFP committee
The loudest, or at least most prominent, voice on Indiana and SMU’s battle was Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, whose squad was the third team left out of the playoffs.
However, many rightly pointed out that Kiffin’s 9-3 Rebels team could have made the playoffs if it had simply won at home against a 4-8 Kentucky team that managed just one win in SEC play this season.
