The College Football Playoffs had yet to be revealed and our questions were yet to be answered, but that didn’t stop Kirk Herbstreit and Booger McFarland from giving fans some serious entertainment on television.
In a mundane but seemingly emotionally-charged response, Herbstreit seemingly took offense to McFarland’s opening comments and the show nearly went off the rails.
Kirk Herbstreit, Booger McFarland Engage In Spirited Debate About College Football Playoff Rankings
The show started with longtime college analyst Rece Davis throwing to McFarland for his opening remarks. And Booger took it upon himself to speak to a growing trend across the internet that the committee may rank the brand of a football program over their on-field performance this season.
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“The day is finally here and here we are once again, trying to figure out what this committee is going to do,” McFarland said. “Are they going to choose the brand or are they actually going to remember what they saw last night on the field?”
Despite some sensible chuckles from the broadcast team in person, the talking heads that were Nick Saban and Herbstreit — who were not in attendance — did not seem amused.
When it came time for Herbstreit to speak, he didn’t hold back.
“Well, right out of the gate, I really don’t understand Booger’s comment about brand over last night,” Herbstreit said. “I think that’s like low-hanging fruit on the internet or on social media.”
“To me, I think it’s very, very clear (what coach Saban) just described: This isn’t easy.”
The debate wasn’t over there after Herbstreit took it to McFarland, as the in-studio host jumped in to respond.
“To your point, just bringing a bit of levity to the situation, you’re right, it was maybe a little low-hanging fruit, but I do differ with you in how we talk about Alabama,” McFarland said.
The duo decided to essentially call it at that, but the palpable tension between the two remained through the first commercial break.
Brand vs. on-field performance is an interesting debate, and only the committee’s results would tell what they saw, but bickering on live television during the biggest reveal of the season was something unexpected.
And no matter where you stand, Herbstreit stood on business.
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