Can a team be punished for playing too tough? Kirk Herbstreit thinks so. The ESPN host issued an urgent warning for college football to avoid repeating the Texas playoff mistake. He argued the Longhorns deserved more respect for their brutal schedule.

“When I look like at the Texas Team that we see now. The Texas team we see now looks like a legitimate team.” Joey Galloway said on the Nonstop podcast. Herbstreit immediately jumped in: “When you say now, that’s two weeks Arkansas and Texas A&M, they got beat 35 to 10 three weeks ago at Georgia.

So that has to so forget Ohio State to me that helped them that 14 to seven game. That’s the closest game Ohio State’s had all year. I think their stock went up by that game.”

Kirk Herbstreit and Joey Galloway were basically talking about how Steve Sarkisian’s Texas Longhorns shouldn’t get punished just because their season included some Ls. But the problem is, when you look back earlier in the season, they didn’t always play like this. They got crushed by a 4–8 Florida team, and that game is the biggest stumbling factor for the Longhorns.

The duo also pointed out how the committee sometimes evaluates teams based solely on record, counting losses without digging into context like strength of schedule or tough road environments. Herbstreit even admitted his thinking shifted after receiving calls from coaches.

“I had conversations with people, and that’s what created, made it, made me go out and tweet that, because I wouldn’t think in that way.

But when these guys reach out to me and say, I’m canceling this game, I’m f*** that I’m not playing, why should I play that I’m not I mean, they are passionate about it. And I’m like, I want to say, please keep playing these games, because your kids want to play in these games.”

His point was that these big matchups, like Texas going to Columbus or College Station are great for fans and for the sport on the paper. The players want to be in those games, the fans love them, and they make college football more exciting. But if the playoff committee doesn’t reward teams for taking those risks, then coaches will stop scheduling them.

Herbstreit said it best: “If all we’re doing is counting losses, then hell yeah, don’t play anybody.”

The argument for Texas is that even though they have three losses on the sheet, they finished the year on fire. They beat three top-10 teams, something only the 2019 LSU/Burrow team had done recently. Plus, they also knocked off the undefeated, No. 3-ranked Texas A&M in rivalry week. Herbstreit and Galloway both feel that the Longhorns look like a team playing their best football at the right time, and that the committee should take that into account.

But truth be told, a three-loss team almost never makes the playoff, even if they’ve clearly improved. According to PFSN, Texas only has about a 2.5% chance. Herbstreit’s main frustration is that Texas is being punished for scheduling Ohio State, even though that matchup was great for college football.

If they had played an easier opponent instead of the No. 1 team in the nation, they’d likely still be alive in the playoff race. In his eyes, Texas shouldn’t be penalized for challenging themselves. However, the problem goes beyond the SEC.

The ACC conference is looking at a serious problem

The big worry is that the ACC might get completely left out of the expanded College Football Playoff (CFP). This could happen because of some tricky tiebreaker rules. Those rules might let a team with a worse record sneak into the championship game. And then fail to rank high enough to earn an automatic bid. It’s a real problem, and ACC commissioner Phillips is in the hot seat to do something about it.

The issue is that the new 12-team playoff guarantees spots to the top five conference champions. Not necessarily “Power 5” teams. The ACC is concerned that a low-ranked champion (think an 8-5 Duke team) might actually get leapfrogged in the rankings by a Group of 5 champion. Like one from the AAC.

This exact scenario happened last season itself. A 10-2 Miami team missed the title game because of the current rules. It showed just how vulnerable the ACC is. Fans feel the conference has been too soft.

To fix this, the ACC is now seriously thinking about changing its rules. They want to make sure their best-ranked team actually gets to play for the championship. And secures that automatic playoff spot. Whether they use the CFP rankings as a tiebreaker or tweak the schedule, Phillips is under pressure  now. He now has to make sure the ACC doesn’t get left on the outside looking in when the playoffs roll around.