Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin Calls Out CFP Committee After Notre Dame Eliminates Indiana

Ole Miss football head coach Lane Kiffin let the College Football Playoff committee know how he felt about their inclusions in this year’s field when No. 7 Notre Dame easily dispatched No. 10 Indiana 27-17 in South Bend on Friday evening.

Notre Dame dominated Indiana for three-plus quarters, taking a 27-3 lead after quarterback Riley Leonard’s one-yard touchdown run and the ensuing PAT. Indiana scored two touchdowns in the final 1:27 to cut into the score, but Notre Dame confidently had this game in hand,

You don’t have to look hard to find people on X or any social media channel or any message board offering their unsolicited opinions about Indiana and SMU making the tournament as the final two at-large teams.

These remarks eschew those schools’ 11-win records and point to their strength of schedules (or lack thereof), instead pointing to the gauntlet the SEC schools go through on the weekly basis. Those opinions certainly favor SEC teams (most notably three-loss Alabama) making this field.

Of course, there are those defending Indiana and SMU, too, pointing to their win-loss records and noting the concerns regarding a three-loss team. These critics also note how Alabama got crushed 24-3 against Oklahoma, or that the Crimson Tide didn’t exactly play the strongest out-of-conference schedule (e.g. a matchup with Division I-FCS Mercer).

It’s clear what side of the fence Kiffin lands on, but then again, his team would have certainly been if it went 10-2 instead of 9-3. Of note, a win instead of a 24-17 home loss to unranked Kentucky (4-8 overall, 1-7 SEC) would have improved the resume quite a bit.

Regardless, it’s a debate that will likely rage on Saturday and into the offseason. It’ll still be in the backdrop of the actual CFP games, though, which continue Saturday at noon when SMU visits Penn State.