ESPN’s Sean McDonough Calls Indiana, Big Ten After ‘Dud’ Against Notre Dame

On December 22, 2024By Littum

The first game of the new 12-team College Football Playoff played out similarly to so many of the semifinal games in the previous four-team iteration. Indiana, the 10 seed, was completely outmatched on the road at Notre Dame, leading to an ugly slugfest.

The Hoosiers were held to 278 yards of offense and scored both of their touchdowns in the game’s final four minutes to pull back to 27-17, though the product on the field was far less respectable. Notre Dame was thoroughly dominant thanks to a suffocating defense and a running game that amassed 193 yards on the ground, including an incredible 98-yard touchdown run by Jeremiah Love.

Viewers weren’t the only ones disappointed by Indiana’s subpar showing. Late in the game, ESPN’s Sean McDonough didn’t hold back in criticizing the Hoosiers and questioning whether they should have even been included in the field.

“To be honest, this game has been a bit of a dud. I don’t think anyone would deny that,” McDonough said at the end of the fourth quarter. “Disappointing, I think most of us thought it was going to be a more competitive game and there will be a lot of analysis going forward as to whether Indiana was worthy of this.”

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

Sean McDonough isn’t holding back here in garbage time on Indiana’s CFP inclusion. “I don’t understand why there’s this presumption that the Big Ten is so much better than the ACC or the Big 12. I’m not sure what that’s based on.”

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) 21 December 2024

“I think they need to lose the assumption that the SEC and the Big Ten are clearly head and shoulders ahead of everybody else, especially the Big Ten,” McDonough continued in the last minute of the match. “The SEC has the recent history — Alabama, Georgia — but the Big Ten has won two college football national championships since when? 2002? That’s 22 seasons.”

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

Indiana was not the last team ahead of the last major team left out (Alabama). Realistically, all of the three-loss SEC teams left out, as well as a two-loss Miami that hardly impressed down the stretch, had giant holes in their resumes while the Hoosiers pretty much handled business all season.