"Belong" this

 Well, well, well. And what have we here, on this fine three-days-before-Christmas morning?

Penn State 38, SMU 10.

Texas 38, Clemson 24.

Ohio State 42, Tennessee 17.

Kinda makes Notre Dame 27, Indiana 17 look like a nail-biter, doesn't it?

Kinda makes you wonder what Kirk Herbstreit, Colin Cowherd, Lane Kiffin and the rest of the SEC public relations staff are going to say now on the subject of belonging, considering they so clearly decided Indiana was some dweeb who snuck into the College Football Playoff wearing cargo shorts and Crocs-with-socks.

You remember what they all said, right?

After Indiana struggled so mightily against a superior Notre Dame team, Herbie called Indiana "outclassed" and said it was "not a team that should have been on that field." Cowherd, that frequently dizzy twit, said he didn't care how the CFP was configured going forward so long as Indiana was never again invited. And Kiffin -- the head coach at Ole Miss, and one of many SEC bellyachers --  made some snarky comment on the Magic Twitter Machine about how he really enjoyed such a competitive game.

And then ...

And then, Penn State rocked SMU by 28. And Texas beat Clemson by 14 and was in cruise control much of the day. And Ohio State ... wait, this can't be right, can it, Lane Kiffin?

The Buckeyes smacked around a 10-2 SEC school by 25 points? Same Buckeyes who also blew out Indiana, but by two points fewer?

Goodness. Maybe SMU, Clemson and Tennessee also were teams that shouldn't have been on that field, right, Herbie? Maybe the CFP going forward also should never include those three programs ever again, right, Colin?

Um, Colin? Herbie?

Hmm. Perhaps some rethinking is in order.

Perhaps now is the time to suggest that on a given day, and it can pretty much be any day, virtually any team in the country can look like it doesn't belong. Indiana brought its B-minus game, maybe it's C-plus game, to South Bend, and was never really in it against a Notre Dame team that was better anyway. These things happen sometimes.

Fun fact: In the last six CFP championship games, the average margin of victory has been 27.8 points. Twice the team on the losing end -- Alabama both times -- was ranked No. 1. The Crimson Tide lost those games by 15 and 28 points, respectively.

 Strange. But I don't recall anyone saying  'Bama "shouldn't have been on that field" then. Or that the Tide should never again be allowed in the CFP.

Meanwhile, here's an Indiana team that came in 11-1 with 10 of those wins by double digits. The only "W" that wasn't by double digits was against Michigan -- who went on a few weeks later to beat the Ohio State team that beat Indiana.

Friday night, the Hoosiers closed out an historic 11-2 season in which their only two losses were against two top-ten teams.

You know who can't say that?

Alabama, a three-loss team so many were caterwauling should have gotten inside the velvet rope despite two of its three losses coming against .500 teams. And poor Lane Kiffin's Ole Miss Rebels -- whose three losses were to LSU, ranked 13th at the time; unranked Florida; and a 4-8 Kentucky squad.

Memo to Kiffin and any and all 'Bama apologists: You want to make the CFP, don't lose three games to mid competition. And especially don't lose to a 4-8 team.

Because you know who didn't do that?

Indiana.