A variety of people within the CFB mediascape are chastised by the masses for indulging in SEC bias and homerism. The southeastern faction and its perceived supremacy are perpetually etched in a negative light. This supremacy has very much been questioned in these playoffs, though. Now, whether it’s rational or not, ESPN as a collective is often alluded to as the epicenter of this bias. One prominent figure on the network, Kirk Herbstreit, is not averse to the label either. He’s come out to thwart some of the allegations, both of him and his employers.

College football is somewhat of an echo chamber, and one opinion can very quickly reverberate across all corners of it. After Georgia’s loss to Notre Dame, who he previously implied is a weaker team compared to it’s SEC adversary, Herbstreit was almost radio silent. Strange for a person whose profession is dissecting the sport on the airwaves. He’s now broken this apparent silence amid chatter that it was because the SEC was not pulling its supposed weight. The conference champion lost its first CFP game after all.

Kirk Herbstreit appeared on the Andy and Ari podcast over the On3 YouTube channel. He acknowledged as well as cleared his stance about the dirt on his name. “ESPN loves the SEC so much,” he began rather sarcastically. “That we could not have paid for a better Final Four. With Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Texas the only one missing is Michigan. If you could somehow wedge Michigan [in]. This idea that we want Alabama and Texas A&M or Auburn, are you kidding me?…This is a ratings bonanza.” He elaborated on this using the 2 “biggest” programs in a hypothetical Natty matchup.

“If you get Ohio State [versus] Notre Dame in the national championship, you think we’re gonna be like, ‘Dog god it! If we could only have gotten a couple good brands in the championship. This didn’t work out this year?” That does seem fair. However, hindsight is 20/20, and Herbstreit wasn’t really speaking along the same lines less than a fortnight ago. Alas, these statements aren’t quite going to quell the prevailing notion that the media is indeed biased. Which has been evidenced at multiple junctures along the way.

Herbstreit earlier indicted Indiana as a bit of a fugazi team not worthy of a playoff berth. This was after they pulled a bit of a vanishing act in their round 1 matchup against Notre Dame. He then pulled one of his own with the radio silence, and social media trolled him relentlessly. The irony was not lost on the masses that Indiana lost to ND by a smaller margin than Georgia did. One viral post on X included him being superimposed on a missing poster! It’s almost revisionist to say the broadcasters are ecstatic about the remaining playoff field, after other peers of Herbstreit have echoed similar, biased sentiments.

Kirk Herbstreit isn’t the only one who’s perhaps had to walk back their partisan SEC takes

The Southeast really got, what the millennials will say, owned these playoffs. When merely 3 made it in, there was outrage. ESPN was a massive source of it. Now, only one remains. Just about. Tennessee looked like boys against men in the Shoe. They took on a resurgent Ohio State team in their own backyard and got blown out within the first quarter. Then, Texas almost took the SEC back a couple of decades by almost losing to ASU. A missed targeting call by the refs, which afforded them a shot at overtime, only increased the discontent towards the SEC, with people suggesting there was foul play involved. Georgia’s loss almost tied a ribbon on a poor showing, but at least they were without their QB1.

Prior to all this, Paul Finebaum also concurred with Kirk Herbstreit about Indiana’s spot being rather fallacious. “So far, the CFP selection committee has given us some blockbusters” he said on X. “Notre Dame led late over Indiana 27-3 and Penn State just went up on the committee’s final team 28-0 at the half. Take a bow.”

Even though Indiana didn’t do themselves much justice. However the SEC’s overall performance suggests leaving IU out for an Alabama or Ole Miss was not necessarily going to change the outcome of this final 4. Parallel to the CFP, Alabama, who were the first team on the bubble, have lost their ReliaQuest Bowl game to Michigan. This further validates their exclusion. Hypothesising all of this is futile now. The overarching conclusion is that the SEC may well have been overrated. The cycle of partisan bias, though, will continue churning subliminal disrespect of the other conferences. Whether via Kirk Herbstreit or elsewhere.