Kirk Herbstreit Makes Position Clear on College Football Playoff Expansion Debate

The conversation around College Football Playoff expansion refuses to slow down, and ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit just added another voice to a debate that has split commissioners, coaches and fans for months.

Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, the longtime College GameDay analyst was asked whether he hated the idea of a bigger playoff field.

His answer was less fiery than McAfee expected, but Herbstreit still laid out specific concerns about what an expanded bracket could do to the sport he has covered for nearly three decades.

Where Herbstreit stands on 24 teams

When McAfee assumed his co-host would push back hard on growing the playoff, Herbstreit pumped the brakes. "Kind of indifferent. Until you get experience with it, it's hard to hate it," Herbstreit said.

He still raised real questions about what gets lost when the postseason swallows more of the calendar.

"Would we lose the importance of Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn, all those big (rivalry) games at the end?" he asked.

ESPN College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit laid out his concerns about the looming playoff expansion while on The Pat McAfee Show. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Herbstreit then made his strongest declaration of the segment, rejecting automatic qualifier slots tied to conferences.

"As long as they aren't (automatic qualifiers). Let's just take the best teams," Herbstreit said. "Let's not associate anything, in my opinion. Let's just rank the teams at the end and stack them up. Those are your teams."

That stance puts him at odds with Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who has been the loudest advocate for a 24-team model that locks in conference allocations.

Why the scheduling fear is real

Herbstreit's deeper worry has nothing to do with bracket math and everything to do with September.

"I fear that everybody's answer is to just go cupcake central," Herbstreit said, noting that Texas traveling to Columbus and losing by seven to Ohio State did not earn the Longhorns enough credit in the eyes of the committee.

His concern lines up with where the format fight actually sits. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has held firm at 16 teams while Petitti pushes 24, an impasse that kept the field at 12 for the 2026 season.

The American Football Coaches Association, the ACC, and the Big 12 have all signaled support for 24, leaving the SEC isolated entering its May 26 spring meetings.

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