When it comes to how we discuss the College Football Playoff, there’s actual logic and there’s ESPN logic.
Actual logic dictates that while the system is imperfect and it’s often impossible to truly define the difference between an 11-1 team over here and a 10-2 team over there, different factors matter but performance on the field justifies one’s inclusion. The outcome of the playoff games can only be used as hindsight justification so far because you start dealing in hypotheticals and undercut the spirit of fair play.
Meanwhile, the logic for ESPN, which owns the broadcasting rights to the College Football Playoff (and sublicenses several games to TNT), is that the only thing that matters is the quality of the playoff game matchups in terms of intrigue and eyeballs. Wins and accomplishments are secondary to the names on the front of the jersey. There are only 14-16 schools that deserve to be in the CFP each year anyway and most of them are in the SEC so the regular season doesn’t really matter so long as most of those schools are slightly better than mediocre. Cinderellas are a waste of everyone’s time and energy and deserve to be punished for thinking they belong here.
At least that’s how it seems based on how ESPN college football folks like Kirk Herbstreit, Paul Finebaum, Desmond Howard, and Sean McDonough discuss the sport. And not just this year.
When Indiana’s magical season ended with an uncompetitive 27-17 loss to Notre Dame in the first round of the CFP, ESPN’s college football pundits were falling all over themselves to say this proves the Hoosiers didn’t belong and three-loss Alabama deserved to be here in their place. Similar sentiments were shared about SMU after they were soundly defeated by Penn State (Funnily enough, none of these people said anything when Tennessee got throttled by Ohio State).
The idea was that Alabama would have been a much more competitive opponent for Notre Dame and would have made for a more entertaining matchup, which presumably would have led to better ratings for ESPN (No one specifically made that connection but it felt very implicit).
All of which brings us to Tuesday when that mighty Alabama squad took on 7-5 Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Here, presumably, the Crimson Tide would thrash the Wolverines, proving once and for all they deserved a spot in the CFP and were criminally passed over.
Instead, Alabama looked dreadful coming out of the gate, finishing the first quarter down 16-0 with -2 yards of offense, two lost fumbles, and an interception. While they were able to get back on their feet in the second quarter, their offense effectively stalled out for most of the game. They had a chance towards the end but ultimately lost 19-13 to the five-loss Wolverines.
Not the worst performance in bowl history but hardly the kind of game that anyone walked away from thinking “This team deserved to be in the CFP.”
Now, you might say that letting the outcome of this bowl game dictate whether or not the Tide deserved to be in the CFP is exactly the kind of hypocrisy that ESPN’s CFB pundits are using. To which we would say, well, we’re only using the criteria that they themselves use.
Remember, it was Florida State’s dismal showing against Georgia in the Orange Bowl last year that was used to justify the CFP’s decision not to include the undefeated Seminoles, a decision that many at ESPN agreed with and championed.
If that line of thinking was valid then, it’s valid now too.
Don’t take our word for it, a whole lot of people around college football had a field day letting Herbstreit and the rest of the ESPN CFB crew know what they thought of all this.
The selection committee needs to have a real serious discussion about who plays in the Reliaquest Bowl and not just focus on wins.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 31, 2024
If Bama loses to a third completely mid team anyone who argued for them to be in the playoff should be sentenced to a year of drinking Keystone Light
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 31, 2024
Kirk Herbstreit watching Alabama get destroyed pic.twitter.com/xptBqk5PM6
— Pregame Empire (@PregameEmpire) December 31, 2024
Kirk Herbstreit tonight when people come after him for his Alabama was robbed of a Playoff spot takes
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) December 31, 2024
This is the Alabama team Herbstreit cried about on live TV?
— T3 Bracketology™️🏀 (@T3Bracketology) December 31, 2024
Seeing Alabama get blown out by yet another team with 7 or fewer wins just makes Sean McDonough’s rant about the Big10 look even worse.
One of the most unprofessional sports broadcasting moments of the year.
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) December 31, 2024
SMU got their teeth kicked in by a really good Penn State team.
Alabama is getting their teeth kicked in by a slightly above average Michigan team.
The #CFBPlayoff Committee got it right, Paul Finebaum can go cry in a corner.
— Dusty Baker (@DustyBakerTV) December 31, 2024
Alabama was a 22.5-point favorite over Vanderbilt, a 14-point favorite over Oklahoma and a 16.5-point favorite over Michigan.
Please never talk about hypothetical point spreads again.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 31, 2024