It looks like Kirk Herbstreit and Booger McFarland had a pretty tense moment on ESPN’s College Football Playoff rankings show.
The whole thing kicked off when Booger speculated that the committee might lean towards picking Alabama for the final playoff spot because of the “brand” factor.
“Are they gonna choose the brand, or are they gonna actually remember what they saw last night?” Booger asked, referring to SMU’s hard-fought performance.
Herbstreit wasn’t having any of it and called the comment out right away.
“I don’t really understand Booger’s comment about brand over last night,” Kirk shot back. “I think that’s like low-hanging fruit on the internet or social media.” His frustration was obvious, and you could feel the awkwardness between the two as the conversation went on.
Fans, of course, jumped on social media to share their reactions. One person wrote, “Kirk Herbstreit just eviscerating Booger McFarland lmao.” Another joked that Kirk acted like Booger had “called his mom out of her name.”
The debate between Alabama and SMU came down to their records and performances this season. Alabama went 9-3 with bad losses to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. SMU, on the other hand, is 11-2 and just lost the ACC Championship to Clemson. The question really came down to whether the committee values Alabama’s reputation or SMU’s strong season more.
In the end, the committee gave the nod to the SMU Mustangs. The Mustangs, who finished 8-0 in the ACC, got the 11-seed in the College Football Playoff and will travel to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions. The winner of the first-round matchup will play the three-seeded Boise State Broncos in the quarterfinals of the CFP.
Other first-round games for the playoff include No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas, No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame, and No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State.