So once again, Notre Dame got embarrassed on a national stage. The Fighting Irish trailed at halftime against Clemson in the Cotton Bowl Classic by 20 points, and ended up losing, 30-3.

There were a lot of shades of the 2012/13 national title game, when Alabama crushed Notre Dame 42-14.

Notre Dame didn’t have to play in a conference championship game, as it doesn’t play in a conference. Georgia meanwhile, led for a majority of its game against No. 1 Alabama before falling 35-28 in the SEC Championship game. The Bulldogs finished ranked No. 5 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, just missing out on the playoff.

Safe to say, a number of fans and media members across the college football landscape chimed in that Notre Dame didn’t belong in the playoff in the first place and that Georgia should’ve gotten in, despite going 11-2 in the regular season compared to the Fighting Irish’s 12-0 record.

Next season, Georgia and Notre Dame will get a chance to settle this debate on the field, as the Bulldogs welcome Notre Dame to Sanford Stadium on Sep. 21. Georgia did beat Notre Dame 20-19 when the two teams met during the 2017 season. Georgia also beat a Florida team that hammered No. 7 Michigan 41-15 in the Peach Bowl. Notre Dame’s best win of the season came against that same Michigan team.

To further validate what many are saying though, Georgia will have to go out and beat Texas in the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday. The Bulldogs, who will be without their best player in cornerback Deandre Baker, and No. 15 Longhorns kick off at 8:45 p.m. ET on Tuesday on ESPN. Texas was the only team to beat Oklahoma in the regular season.

Alabama beat Oklahoma in the second playoff semifinal Saturday night, 45-34.

Best stories from around DawgNation