Joel Klatt Calls Out Lane Kiffin, Texas's Résumé Amid CFP Complaints of Indiana, SMU

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

As Indiana and SMU both struggled in their College Football Playoff matchups in the inaugural 12-team bracket, the CFP committee has been called out by many pundits and coaches for allowing teams that capitalized off of easy schedules into the tournament.

Indiana finished the regular season 11-1, but did not defeat any teams that finished the season ranked in the AP Top 25. Their lone game against a current Top 25 opponent was against Ohio State, which beat them 38-15. Indiana faced its second ranked opponent during the first round of the CFP, and were trounced by Notre Dame 27-17.

SMU went 11-1 during the regular season before narrowly falling to Clemson in the ACC championship game. The Mustangs played two ranked teams during the CFP, and came within a field goal of both BYU and Clemson. In their matchup against Penn State, the Nittany Lions held a 31-3 lead entering the fourth quarter thanks to three interceptions off SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings.

The disappointing performances of Indiana and SMU have caused plenty of college football fans and analysts to say teams like Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina deserved spots in the CFP over Indiana and SMU.

One of the many trolling the CFP committee was Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, who has questioned the committee's choices for the playoff on social media.

Really exciting competitive game @CFBPlayoff 🧐. Great job!! https://t.co/HEjQ1AcXba
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) December 21, 2024

Way to keep us on the edge of our seats Committee …. Riveting
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) December 21, 2024

Ole Miss pulled off signature wins during the regular season against ranked teams like South Carolina and Georgia, but went 9-3 thanks to losses to unranked squads like Kentucky, LSU, and Florida, which ultimately kept them out of the CFP.

FOX Sports broadcaster and former Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt called out Kiffin by reposting his tweet on social media and saying: "If your team played half as well as you tweet you would likely be in."

If your team played half as well as you tweet you would likely be in https://t.co/tgpIFpxo8I
— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) December 21, 2024

Klatt also called out the lack of response toward Texas, which also did not defeat any ranked teams during the season, losing twice to Georgia. Klatt appeared to call out the bias in favor of SEC teams, as there has been significantly fewer mentions of Texas's strength of schedule compared to that of Indiana and SMU.