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The first round of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff came and went over the weekend and featured blowouts in all four games. The average margin of victory in the games was 17.3 points, and all four home teams won their games.
Unsurprisingly, this led to all sorts of criticism surrounding the format and who did or did not deserve to participate. Much of the conversation surrounded the SEC, with fans, media and coaches claiming that Alabama should have been in over SMU and Indiana, both of which lost handily. Of course, those same people got really quiet when Ohio State beat the brakes off of Tennessee.
Perhaps the worst take of the weekend, however, came from ESPN College GameDay host Kirk Herbstreit, who said that the first round of the playoff showed that wins don’t matter.
On @SportsCenter last night, @KirkHerbstreit takes a stand. Do you agree? pic.twitter.com/OFCbboT4QH
— Linda Cohn (@lindacohn) December 22, 2024
“I hope next year the committee won’t get caught up with what social media and a lot of the ‘fringe’ fans get caught up with which is wins,” Herbstreit ranted during a SportsCenter segment with Linda Cohn.
Fans Slam Kirk Herbstreit For Ridiculous Take About Win Not Mattering
Of course, Herbstreit and his employer, ESPN, are heavily invested in both the SEC and the playoff’s television ratings. So it makes sense that he would cape for a team that got drubbed on the road at 6-6 Oklahoma. But to be this brazen about it is downright impressive.
Thankfully, fans were quick to call out Herbstreit for his ridiculous take.
One of college football’s biggest personalities just suggested that the cfb playoff committee not get caught up with….wins? LOL. I can’t. Maybe we need a hard reset on the people talking about these things & not the people making these decisions. https://t.co/WhWNKHkONL
— Tony Adragna (@CoachAdragna) December 22, 2024
Utterly bizarre that the person who calls the biggest games on ESPN accuses the committee of making their picks based on social media and calls anyone who doesn’t agree with him a fringe fan. https://t.co/r5H0NGt7FH
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 23, 2024
Here’s what Kirk Herbstreit (& Jesse Palmer) said on the day of the 2017 CFP selection show when 11-1 Bama was put in over 10-2 Ohio St even though OSU had 2 better Ws per the CFP rankings than Bama did.
Why is it different in 2024? The only constant ESPN narrative is pro SEC https://t.co/89FDlOvggH pic.twitter.com/FkcuVY1kZf
— Jack Grossman (@JackGrossman97) December 23, 2024
Oddly enough, Herbstreit did not mention that the average margin of victory in the 20 first round games during the four-team playoff was also 17 points. But that doesn’t fit the narrative.
If the games don’t matter for 90 percent of the teams in the country, why should they even play them at all? Herbstreit and the dozens of other analysts poo-pooing everyone but about 15 teams in the country is slippery slope that leads down a path where only those programs matter. And if that’s the case, then we’re likely going to kill college football altogether in the not-too-distant future.