The CFP bracket is set, and while the chosen 12 teams earned their spots, frustration immediately spilled onto the ESPN desk. Kirk Herbstreit, who has spent weeks pounding the table for Texas and its brutal schedule, had no patience left for what he sees as a system that rewards clean records over complete resumes.

“It’d be great if we had 16 teams,” Herbstreit said on ESPN during the College Football Playoff Selection Show. “Maybe that’s the next answer to get this thing up to 16 teams.”

At this point, expanding to a 16-team playoff feels like the obvious next move. But what would the format look like? Do you go with a 5+11 setup, five conference champs, and eleven at-large bids? Or do you lean into something like a 4+4+2+2? If they go with the 5+11 model this year, Notre Dame and BYU become the first two teams in after being left out originally. But would the Longhorns actually get a place in the next two spots?

After knocking off No. 3 Texas A&M with a 27-17 upset to close the regular season, the Longhorns jumped from No. 16 to No. 13 in the rankings. But the three losses were too much to ignore by the committee. The killer was that mid-season flop at 3-8 Florida, the only unranked loss among any Top-15 team. With the 12-team format giving five automatic bids to conference champions, Georgia secured a top-four seed by beating Alabama, while the Tide heads to Norman for Round 1.

Texas didn’t even reach the SEC title game, so without that final statement win, it’s hard to argue they deserved a playoff spot. Herbstreit argues the strength of schedule barely seems to matter once the CFP committee starts stacking teams up. Tough road trips to places like Columbus or College Station? Those challenges are basically ignored the moment comparisons begin. But honestly, a three-loss team rarely sneaks into the playoffs, even if they’re playing way better by season’s end.

Kirk Herbstreit’s aversion to his own show 

Kirk Herbstreit didn’t hold back on College GameDay either. He blamed the Miami-Notre Dame CFP blowup squarely on those “misleading” Tuesday night rankings that had fans raging when the Hurricanes leapfrogged the Irish for the final at-large spot. Notre Dame remained at No. 10 for most weeks. They were ahead of Miami at No. 12 in the penultimate rankings, thanks to the ‘Canes’ two late-season faceplants. It’s the tough losses they controlled against SMU and Louisville that screamed ‘punishment needed.’

Committee chair Hunter Yurachek backed this. He said that early November rankings dropped Miami to 18th after those stumbles, while ND’s 10-win over Boise State, USC, and Pitt looked solid on paper. But championship weekend flipped the script. BYU’s ugly second loss to Texas Tech (34-7) tumbled them from 11th. That stub raised Miami and Notre Dame side-by-side for the first time all year.

Miami’s 27-24 Week 1 thriller over ND at Hard Rock Stadium became the tiebreaker, vaulting the 10-2 Hurricanes to No. 10 and leaving the Irish out cold. He teamed with Nick Saban to call for scrapping the Tuesday circus altogether. “Put yourself in a box,” Saban said. ND fans cried foul over no top-15 wins and a soft schedule. But the committee re-evaluated fresh each week, free of bias, and Miami’s late surge (four straight dubs) plus that H2H sealed it.

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