Alabama is no longer permitted to inform Indiana that they shouldn’t have participated in the CFP.

After losing to Notre Dame in the first round, there was a lot of discussion about how Indiana shouldn’t have been in the College Football Playoffs. The Alabama Crimson Tide, who just missed the playoffs as SMU was chosen as the 11-seed rather than Alabama, was one of the teams they heard from the most.

Everyone in the country thought that Alabama would have been able to put up a better fight against Notre Dame than Indiana did, but the Crimson Tide’s performance in the Reliaquest Bowl against Michigan does not back that claim up.

Alabama faced the Michigan Wolverines in the Reliaquest Bowl, a game the Crimson Tide probably overlooked their opponent, and it came back to bite them in the end. Alabama had a lot of their playmakers, other than star running back Justice Haynes, on the offense, but it just wasn’t enough, as the Crimson Tide was only able to put 13 points on the board against the Michigan defense.

Alabama, a squad that believed they could defeat Notre Dame, lost to the Wolverines 19–13.

Who knows if Alabama would have been more motivated had they been playing in the College Football Playoff, but if a team is going to play in a bowl game, that should be all the motivation they need.

The Alabama offense looked worse against Michigan than Indiana’s did against Notre Dame. It should also be known that Indiana was able to beat Michigan during the regular season as they walked away with a 20-15 win over the Wolverines.

So the next time Alabama or anyone attempts to make a claim that Indiana shouldn’t made it and the Crimson Tide should have, just tell them, “19-13, Michigan beats Alabama.”