Michael Wilbon has issues with the expanded College Football Playoff, and he even took a shot at his employer over what he claims is a money grab by all concerned, ESPN included.
The “Pardon the Interruption” co-host believes the format expansion from four teams to 12 this year was too much.
“They’re not going to go from 12 to eight (teams) because this is a greed play,” Wilbon said Friday on PTI. “It’s a money play for everybody involved, including this network.”
“They’re not going to go from 12 to 8 (teams) because this is a greed play. It’s a money play for everybody involved, including this network.”
Michael Wilbon lays into ESPN for its involvement in the expanded CFP, while Tony Kornheiser has some words for SEC diehards: pic.twitter.com/fN1iPybu0c
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 3, 2025
Wilbon and co-host Tony Kornheiser had no problem with the four semifinalists still alive in the tournament: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Texas, but Wilbon noted that teams with first-round byes such as Oregon and Georgia may have lost in the quarterfinals due to the added time off.
“If you have eight (teams), you don’t have byes. You don’t need byes. The teams that had byes got beat, and they were rusty,” Wilbon said. “You seed them one through eight … and you put those eight teams out there, and you say, ‘Let’s go.’”
Kornheiser’s ire was more directed at ESPN announcers and pundits, whom he claimed had a bias toward the SEC.
ESPN college football lead analyst Kirk Herbstreit had been outspoken about SMU not deserving a bid over a three-loss Alabama squad, which ended up losing to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl to fall to 9-4.
Georgia also lost to Notre Dame, while Tennessee was crushed by Ohio State.
“One of the things that we saw is it belies the fact that the SEC is by far the best conference. That’s not true,” Kornheiser said. “I don’t want to hear any more about how they got hosed by the committee.”
