College Football World Rehashes Indiana Debate Following Georgia's Loss to Notre Dame

The 2024 College Football Playoff is officially on to the semifinals, meaning the next week leading up to the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 will be filled with plenty of television show debates and online arguments about each team that made (or did not make) the inaugural 12-team bracket.

One of the most-often discussed teams was the No. 8 Indiana Hoosiers, who made their first CFP appearance in program history after an 11–1 regular season. The Hoosiers, of course, went on to lose 27–17 to No. 5 Notre Dame in a rather non-competitive opening round tilt, sparking debate on if coach Curt Cignetti's squad deserved the CFP nod over Miami (10–2) or a few three-loss SEC teams in Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina.

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, for example, believes the Hoosiers' 11 wins were overvalued by the CFP Committee since they never defeated an actual ranked team throughout the year. That argument was rehashed on Thursday night once the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs lost 23–10 to Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.

The reigning SEC champs lost by more points to Notre Dame than Indiana? Many in the college football world believe it's time to put the anti-Hoosiers argument to bed.

So in the end Notre Dame/Indiana was closer than Notre Dame/Georgia?

🧐🧐🧐
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 3, 2025

Notre Dame beat Georgia by 13.

Notre Dame beat Indiana by 10.

The SEC’s talking heads said Indiana didn’t belong in the playoff. What will they say now? 🤣
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 3, 2025

Notre Dame beat Georgia by a bigger margin than Indiana

Hush now
— Steven Godfrey (@38Godfrey) January 3, 2025

Indiana lost to Notre Dame by 10 and I was told they didn’t belong on the same field.

Georgia lost to Notre Dame by 13 and Oregon lost their playoff game by 20.

So Georgia and Oregon didn’t belong on the same field as playoff teams also.

Am I doing this right @KirkHerbstreit ?
— El Jefe (@Jeff_Brunson) January 3, 2025

So is @KirkHerbstreit going to go on national TV to say Georgia didn’t belong? They had a worse loss to Notre Dame than Indiana. @SEC_Exposed
— Jake (@UCCowboy) January 3, 2025

Indiana: 10 point loss to ND in South Bend
Georgia: 13 point loss to ND at a neutral site pic.twitter.com/r9PbPVxPfM
— Justin Walsh (@jdwalsh24) January 3, 2025

Indiana lost to Notre Dame by fewer points than Georgia.

Indiana lost to Ohio State by fewer points than Tennessee.

Indiana beat Michigan who beat Alabama who beat Georgia who beat Texas twice.

Indiana might not have gone 11-1 in the SEC.

IU probably goes 12-0.
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) January 3, 2025

Now, by the eye test, Georgia did play Notre Dame tougher than Indiana. The Hoosiers fell behind the Fighting Irish early and scored 14 of their 17 points late in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand. The Bulldogs, playing with backup quarterback Gunner Stockton, were within three points of the Fighting Irish until a fumble in the closing minutes of the first half and a kickoff return touchdown to start the second half put the game away.

With all of that being said, it's worth noting that the College Football Playoff has always produced blowouts, dating back to the first four-team bracket in 2014. Both Indiana and Georgia had fantastic seasons—just not as great as Notre Dame.