The first game of the new 12-team College Football Playoff was similar to so many semifinal games in the previous four-team iteration. Indiana, the No. 10 seed, was completely outmatched on the road at Notre Dame, which led to an ugly slugfest.

The Hoosiers were held to 278 yards of offense and scored both touchdowns in the final four minutes of the game to cut the score to 27-17, although the performance on the field was far less respectable. Notre Dame was absolutely dominant thanks to a stifling defense and a running game that racked up 193 yards on the ground, including an incredible 98-yard touchdown from Jeremiyah Love.

It wasn’t just the spectators who were disappointed by Indiana’s below-average performance. Towards the end of the game, ESPN’s Sean McDonough didn’t shy away from criticizing the Hoosiers and openly questioning whether they should have been included in the field at all.

“To be honest, this game was a bit stupid. I don’t think anyone would deny that,” McDonough said late in the fourth quarter. “Disappointing, I think most of us thought it would be a more competitive game and there will be a lot of analysis in the future about whether Indiana was worth it.”

The veteran broadcaster didn’t limit his criticism to just the Hoosiers, but argued that the selection committee shouldn’t “assume” that the Big Ten is better than the ACC or Big 12 when making its decisions.

“I think they need to get rid of the assumption that the SEC and the Big Ten are significantly ahead of everyone else, especially the Big Ten,” McDonough continued in the final minute of the game. “The SEC has the most recent history — Alabama, Georgia — but the Big Ten has since when? 2002? That’s 22 seasons of winning two national championships in college football.”

Those two national titles — Ohio State in 2014 and Michigan last season — both came in the last decade, but its larger point goes unrecognized. The SEC has more proven dominance on the game’s biggest stage.

Indiana wasn’t the last team in before the last overall team left out (Alabama). Realistically, all of the omitted three-loss SEC teams, as well as a two-loss Miami that barely impressed down the stretch, had huge holes on their resumes, while the Hoosiers mostly did business all season.