Kirk Herbstreit Wants No Part of College Football Playoff Debate After FSU Debacle

Herbstreit agreed with the committee's decision to leave out undefeated Florida State last year.
Kirk Herbstreit and Mike Greenberg discuss the College Football Playoff field on ESPN.
Kirk Herbstreit and Mike Greenberg discuss the College Football Playoff field on ESPN. / Screengrab via ESPN

Kirk Herbstreit is out on analyzing which teams should be in or out of the College Football Playoff field.

Last year, he shared his agreement with the committee to leave Florida State out of the four-team field after a season-ending injury to star quarterback Jordan Travis.

"It's just a reality," Herbstreit said on ESPN after last year's CFP bracket was revealed. "You're comparing Alabama to Florida State, you got to give Alabama the nod."

He received backlash from FSU fans for his stance, which agreed with the committee's decision to leave out the undefeated Seminoles.

Now, with the inaugural 12-team CFP field announced, Herbstreit joked that he's retired on sharing who he thinks should be in and out after the online criticism he got just a season ago.

"After last year, I have learned, I have no opinions about anything," Herbstreit said Sunday on ESPN when Mike Greenberg asked whether the committee should penalize a team for losing its conference championship game. "I think everybody gets a trophy. Everybody gets in. I want no death threats, I want no punishment for eight months from hashtag FSU Twitter. So I have no opinion on anything. I love everybody."

The committee decided to award the last spot in the 12-team field to SMU over Alabama on Sunday, which Herbstreit said was a difficult decision. If one thing's for certain, he's done picking sides.


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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.