As an FSU fan and more importantly, a college football fan, all I want is for teams to get a fair shake. It's why every time I get a chance to call ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit out for using his influence to shape narratives in college football, I will.
I have a question. Why does Kirk Herbstreit fill the need to address the perceived SEC bias he and ESPN show every week? Look no further than his latest interview, where he goes out of his way to address the perception that ESPN wants the SEC in its prime-time matchups. Watch this clip:
.@KirkHerbstreit sets the record straight on ESPN SEC bias:
— On3 (@On3sports) January 7, 2025
"We could not have paid for a better final four with Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Texas. The only one missing is Michigan... So this idea we want Alabama, Texas A&M, and Auburn. Are you kidding me?" pic.twitter.com/xbci8PfrrG
Kirk has had some dumb takes lately, but this one is up there. Kirk, once you make the College Football Playoffs, it doesn't matter because ALL those games will draw big numbers as long as one major brand plays. Nobody is checking for the Washington Huskies, but their game with Michigan drew over 25 million viewers in the four-team playoff last year.
Arizona State's game against Texas had more viewers than Notre Dame vs. Georgia.
FSU had four of the top 50 games in viewership in 2023 and would have been more if the College Football Playoff Committee had put them in the playoffs as they earned.
Why does he need to belittle Clemson like they haven't won multiple national titles in the last decade? When Clemson is elite, people watch. When Clemson played Alabama in 2017 and 2019, both games drew more than 25 million.
Guess what? Clemson isn't in the SEC. He could have mentioned any small brand SEC/B1G school like Missouri or Iowa in that clip. Nobody cares if Iowa's playing, but they'll watch if they're playing a school with a big brand.
This goes back to the whole point of ESPN only caring about making money and not the good of college football. He's telling us out loud they want major brands in these games, and why he was whining about Indiana making the College Football Playoff while trying to paint a picture of teams like Alabama, Ole Miss, or Missouri getting in.
He had a lot to say when Indiana lost to Notre Dame in the playoffs and was nowhere to be found when Georgia lost to that same Notre Dam team by more. I wonder why?