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Kirk Herbstreit: On the CFB Playoff ‘Alabama Had No Shot’
Kirk Herbstreit: On the CFB Playoff ‘Alabama Had No Shot’
It was the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff and the selection process was controversial. Of course, in true CFB fashion, there were fans and universities unhappy over the rankings. The most discussed and disagreed upon team was the University of Alabama. It appears fans thought Herbstreit was on the Alabama bandwagon leading into the selection process. However, Kirk Herbstreit, when speaking to the Andy and Ari On3 podcast, defended his position as an Alabama playoff denier.
Kirk Herbstreit pushes back on the narrative that he wanted Alabama in the College Football Playoff:
“Alabama had no shot. I don’t know how people thought I thought Alabama (was in), I was very clear leading up to it, how can you put Alabama in when they went and lost… got… pic.twitter.com/0wEXOS3eNj
This debate over teams that just missed out on the CFB Playoff such as Alabama, South Carolina, and Ole Miss happened across the sports world. This debate includes here amongst Vendetta writers. The main reason for Alabama is that they are the better team regardless of record, they have the better strength of schedule, and they would win if they played SMU or Indiana. It appears Kirk Herbstreit was lumped into this school of thought by some college football fans.
However, he made his position clear on the podcast doubling down on leaving Alabama out of the CFB Playoff.
“I was very clear leading up to it, how can you put Alabama in when they went and lost… got embarrassed by a 6-6 Oklahoma team.” – Kirk Herbsteit.
The main argument for leaving teams like Alabama out was that they lost three games. The teams simply did not have the record to be in the playoffs which is how most selection processes go. Also, they lost to two 6-6 regular season teams Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. I don’t get the point of leveraging the strength of schedule if the team in question has lost to multiple mediocre teams.
Finally, this debate has cooled off recently after these teams have impressed or disappointed in their bowl games. However, Kirk Herbstreit has made his position on this 2024-2025 CFB Playoff selection debate crystal clear.
