Kirk Herbstreit on CFP expansion: I like four because I like the debate

Kirk Herbstreit is still a believer that a four-team playoff is the best option for college football.

On Sunday, the SEC became the first conference to have two teams reach the College Football Playoff as the selection committee gave Alabama the final bid over Ohio State. Almost immediately, it sparked a debate about whether or not the hunt for the national title should expand to an eight-team race.

Herbstreit joined the Dan Patrick Show on Monday to talk about the College Football Playoff and whether expansion would be a good move. But the ESPN college football analyst stood firm on four teams being the right number.

"I like four, because I like the debate." – Kirk Herbstreit on size of college football playoff @dpshow

— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) December 4, 2017

Herbstreit’s primary gripe, more than anything related to the Playoff, is that several bowl games have diminished in importance.

Though teams like Ohio State, USC, UCF and Auburn won’t be playing for a national title, all earned bids to top end bowl games. All of those programs should look forward to those opportunities.

"I would love to see people put some importance on and [have some] appreciation for these bowl games. …. For the players they're still a huge deal." – Kirk Herbstreit says you can't say Ohio State and USC had bad years b/c they didn't make Final 4.

— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) December 4, 2017

While several would argue that the College Football Playoff needs to expand to eight teams and be more inclusive, Herbstreit makes a really good argument that some of those other bowl games need to be valued a little more heavily.

Since the Playoff was berthed into existence in 2014, there’s been somewhat of a “CFP or bust” mentality, at least among fans. If that mindset changes, there’s no reason to expand to a bigger system.