Indiana’s Rout of Alabama Confirms What Notre Dame Fans Won’t Ignore

Indiana flat-out dominated Alabama in every aspect of Thursday's Rose Bowl, exposing a team that had no business being there

Jan 1, 2026; Pasadena, CA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer looks on in the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers in the 2026 Rose Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff at Rose Bowl Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It might not be something that necessarily makes me proud, but I feel that I speak for many Notre Dame fans when I say that Thursday's Rose Bowl, in which Indiana boat-raced Alabama out of Pasadena, brought incredible joy.

Indiana dominated the game in every way possible, beating Alabama 38-3 in a game that, dare I say, wasn't as close as the final score indicated.

What was crystal clear on Thursday, obvious for a nation to see, was that Alabama had no business being in the College Football Playoff.

None.

If only Notre Dame had not been shafted.

Indiana Obliterated Alabama in All Parts of Game

Anyone who watched both Indiana and Alabama to any length this season thought that Thursday's outcome was certainly possible, if not somewhat likely. Indiana was dominant on both lines of scrimmage and looked the part of the No. 1 team nationally that hasn't lost all season.

With all due respect, Alabama looked like it did for much of 2025 as well.

It looked like a team that lost to what wound up being a seven-loss Florida State team all the way back in Week 1.

It looked like a team that struggled mightily to get by Missouri, LSU, and Auburn.

It looked like a team that had no business being in the College Football Playoff, regardless of what it did against Oklahoma two weeks ago.

Notre Dame was a better team in 2025 and with as much Indiana as I've seen this year, I'm not sold would get through the Hoosiers. What I do know though, is that Notre Dame would have belonged on the same field as Indiana at worst, something that Alabama certainly can't say after Thursday's dog-walking.

Please Remember This Next Year, Playoff Committee

My hope is that in the wake of Indiana's obliteration of Alabama, that come December of 2026 this postseason isn't forgotten.

The SEC has looked overmatched in just about every direction you look this postseason. Apologists for the conference will say that bowl games don't matter or you can't take much from a small sample, but reality tells us that its a different world.

And in this different world, no conference deserves to ever have five of 12 College Football Playoff spots again. And certainly not the SEC, that now sits with the Sugar Bowl winner as its only hope to win a national championship.

Watching Indiana dismantle Alabama didn't retroactively get Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff, but it certainly shows just how flawed this committee and selection process is, as a mighty unimpressive Crimson Tide team got it and much of the media's comeuppance Thursday.