The first round of the College Football Playoff should have been cause for celebration. The atmosphere was electric on campuses in Happy Valley, South Bend, Austin and Columbus. And we had an expanded 12-team field, giving teams with magical seasons, Indiana and SMU, the opportunity to compete for a chance to win the national championship.

Those environments on campus — the crowds, the cold weather, the tradition — were encouraged. But Indiana and SMU were made a laughing stock. After losses to Notre Dame and Penn State, they were trolled and told they didn’t belong. And that’s nonsense.

In Paul Finebaum’s case, it’s annoying. In Kirk Herbstreit’s case, it’s surprising and unnecessary. In Lane Kiffin’s case, it’s absolutely embarrassing. And for the good of the sport – and the good of everyone – it would be great if they kept their trashy takes to themselves.

Homerism and the SEC’s ridiculous hypotheticals have been rampant in recent weeks. But after a few losses in the first round of the CFP, they were at their worst over the weekend.

First, let’s look at the Indiana-Notre Dame game. The Hoosiers went 11-1 in the regular season. Led by a first-year head coach and a number of Group of Five transfers, Indiana dominated nearly every team on its schedule. There was no ranking victory on his resume. And against Ohio State, the Hoosiers were overwhelmed. But Indiana played according to plan and emerged from Big Ten play with a loss. The Hoosiers deserved to be celebrated, not ridiculed. And they deserve to be included in the 12-team CFP.

A loss at Notre Dame doesn’t change that, especially considering how other teams performed in 2024. It’s not the fault of Curt Cignetti or Kurtis Rourke, Alabama and Ole Miss suffered three losses.

And yet the SEC homers were in full swing with caustic attitude and flimsy arguments. After Indiana’s 27-17 loss to Notre Dame, which was admittedly a flattering end result, Kiffin took to social media. The Ole Miss coach put on his SEC cape and set out to produce a mediocre conference, at least this season.

Kiffin posted “Really exciting must-win game” on X (formerly Twitter) after Indiana’s loss, while also tagging the official College Football Playoff account. “Great job.” Kiffin’s remark was completely oblivious.

No matter what people say about the talent at Alabama and Ole Miss, they don’t deserve to be included in the 12-man field. Maybe they would have been there if the CFP Committee had made the decision in August. But not after Ole Miss lost at home to a terrible Kentucky team that finished 4-8. Not after Alabama suffered a 21-point loss to a bad Oklahoma team in November and dropped 40 points in a loss to 6-6 Vanderbilt.

Kiffin wanted to ignore that. And Herbstreit apparently too.

After failing to raise any red flags on the numerous rankings shows ESPN force-feeds us, Herbstreit had a problem with Indiana’s CFP inclusion on Saturday morning. The normally level-headed analyst – who happens to be employed by the SEC’s media rights holder – became an SEC apologist.

“Indiana was outclassed in this game,” Herbstreit said. “It wasn’t a team that should have been on that field considering other teams could have been there.”

I’m not sure what other teams Herbstreit was talking about because Alabama and Ole Miss lost to Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Are we just assuming that the Crimson Tide and Rebels would have performed better against Notre Dame? Even though they proved in the regular season that they can lose in embarrassing fashion to underperforming teams? OK.

As the first round continued Saturday afternoon, the SEC’s bias grew louder. During Penn State’s 38-10 win over SMU, Kiffin tweeted, “A way to keep us in the loop on the committee.”… captivating.” Finebaum, ESPN’s SEC mouthpiece, quipped, “So far we’ve got gave the CFP selection committee some blockbusters. Bow.”

This is the part of the column where we acknowledge that flat tires happen. In fact, they are quite common in the CFP. In the four-team CFP era from 2014 to 2023, the average margin of victory in the semifinals (essentially the first round) was 17.9 points.

Florida State, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Ohio State lost CFP semifinal games by 39, 38, 35 and 31 points in 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2016. These things happen. Sometimes there aren’t four – or twelve – teams capable of winning the national championship. This was evident in the losses to Indiana and SMU.

But you know what? It showed again Saturday night when Tennessee had its doors blown away at Ohio State. Thousands of Vols fans made the five-hour drive from Knoxville to Columbus, making for a great scene. But the SEC takeover didn’t happen on the field. The Buckeyes defeated Tennessee 42-17. There were even Ohio State fans chanting, “SEC! SEC!” in the stands, mocking the proud conference.

Meanwhile, where was Kiffin in all this? He posted before the game: “Let’s go Vols!!!!” After that, no more noise. Grilling. Be silent. Which was interesting. If Tennessee is eliminated, the Vols certainly don’t deserve to be on the field. That’s how it works, right?

Sarcasm aside, Tennessee belonged to the CFP. And so did Indiana and SMU.

And nothing Kiffin, Finebaum, or Herbstreit said should distract you from that fact.

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