Alabama fans are not happy with how SMU has performed so far in its first-round CFP game against Penn State. The Mustangs trail 28-0 at the half in State College.
SMU's rough first half against Penn State is causing some fans and media to re-visit the decision to leave Alabama out of the College Football Playoff in favor of the Mustangs.
After narrowly losing to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, SMU controversially earned the final at-large bid into the 12-team field over the Crimson Tide. SMU also made the cut over other teams such as Ole Miss, Miami and South Carolina.
The decision was largely supported at the time by college football fans and media at large, with a few notable exceptions such as Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne.
However, SMU's lackluster performance in the first half vs. the Nittany Lions has caused some to reflect on the process of picking teams for the Playoff. Most suggestions revolve around prioritizing a strength-of-schedule metric rather than winning percentage.
Similar comments were made following Indiana's similarly-poor performance against Notre Dame on Friday night in the opening game of the 12-team Playoff era. Kirk Herbstreit was particularly critical of the Hoosiers during College GameDay on Saturday morning.
SMU's issues against Penn State have largely been on the offensive side of the ball. Quarterback Kevin Jennings threw 3 interceptions in the first half, including a pair of pick-6s. Those turnovers led to 21 points for the Nittany Lions. Defensively, SMU held Penn State to just over 5 yards per play in the first half.
In any event, it was a crushing first-half performance for a Mustangs team that had designs on advancing in this Playoff. Here's some of the reaction relating to their selection -- and Alabama's exclusion -- in the 12-team field: