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Kirk Herbstreit Further Clarifies Criticism of Indiana, CFP First-Round Blowouts

Madison Williams

Kirk Herbstreit sits at the "College GameDay" desk.
Kirk Herbstreit sits at the "College GameDay" desk. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Kirk Herbstreit caused some controversy during the first weekend of the College Football Playoff.

All four first-round games resulted in double-digit wins. Following Notre Dame's dominant win over Indiana, Penn State's blowout of SMU and Ohio State's big win over Tennessee, Herbstreit argued some teams made the first 12-team playoff bracket because of their win total rather than being one of the "best" 12 teams.

The ESPN analyst clarified what he meant by these comments that he gave over the weekend by saying he wants what's best for the sport as a whole so fans aren't just watching blowout games.

"If you want to find me guilty of anything, I don't have an agenda for a conference or a team, I do have an agenda for the sport," Herbstreit said Monday on The Pat McAfee Show. "I love college football like a child, and I care about it. ... I hurt for the sport, I don't hurt for a certain team or a conference or anything, I just want great games. ... Whatever it takes for us to get to that, I'm all for it. That was the point I was trying to make."

Here's what Herbstreit's original comments were.

We'll see how the quarterfinals play out in the College Football Playoff.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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