Kirk Herbstreit, Booger McFarland Got Into Awkward Spat on ESPN's Rankings Show

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Cole Sullivan | Last updated Dec 8, 2024 12:59 PM ET

ESPN officially released the final College Football Playoff bracket on Sunday, and while the network seemingly dragged out the announcement as much as possible, the real drama unfolded at the beginning of the show during an awkward spat between analysts Kirk Herbstreit and Booger McFarland.

The tension started when McFarland made a comment regarding the heated debate over Alabama’s potential inclusion in the playoff. He suggested that the committee might prioritize Alabama’s SEC “brand” over the team’s actual performance.

“Are they gonna choose the brand, or are they gonna actually remember what they saw last night, late in the night, a team fight their way back—that being SMU?” McFarland said.

Herbstreit, clearly unsettled by the comment, didn’t waste any time addressing it. He opened his statement with a subtle jab at McFarland, stating, “Well, right out of the gate, I don’t really understand Booger’s comment about brand over last night. I think that’s like low-hanging fruit on the internet or social media.”

This Kirk vs Booger drama is electric I need back story there
— Brentley Weissman (@Brentley12) December 8, 2024

The exchange added an unexpected bit of drama to the usually tense playoff selection show, as Herbstreit and McFarland clashed over the idea of prioritizing brand over on-field performance.

Fans instantly took to social media over the awkward interaction that occurred between the two analysts on Sunday's reveal show.

"Kirk Herbstreit just eviscerating booger mcfarland lmao." One fan posted.

"Kirk Herbstreit acted like Booger called his mom out of her name when he said the committee might pick the SEC brand This is the nastiest propaganda show of the year every year" Another fan said.

One more fan posted. "10 minutes into the CFP Selection Show, and so far all we’ve gotten is Kirk Herbstreit chirping at Booger. Sorry college football fans.

Certainly an odd exchange early on in the College Football Playoff release show, but with the new 12-team format now in place, the drama surrounding who should or shouldn't have made the cut is behind us.

Starting on December 20th, the first round of the expanded playoff will kick off, and college football fans will finally get to see which teams truly stand out as the best in the country—regardless of conference affiliation, strength of schedule, or regular season record. This marks a new era in the sport, where every game counts, and the field is set for a thrilling playoff run.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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