‘It’s no longer about tradition’

[aubiefifty 18,231]

SEC

Concerned Kirk Herbstreit on Texas, Oklahoma to SEC: ‘It’s no longer about tradition’

Updated Jul 30, 1:08 PM; Posted Jul 30, 12:38 PM

ESPN "College GameDay" host Kirk Herbstreit, right, is concerned the college game is moving away from tradition and rivalries, things that make the sport unique. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)AP

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By Mark Heim | mheim@al.com

Kirk Herbstreit is concerned about the state of college football.

It isn’t so much that Texas and Oklahoma have both been invited and accepted invitations to join the SEC, it has more to do with that that represents.

Tradition and rivalries are what sets the college game apart from all other sports, the ESPN “College GameDay” analyst said. That, however, doesn’t appear to be a priority.

“I guess it’s our new world, our new reality,” Herbstreit said on SportsCenter. “I don’t know how you feel. I’m a bit of a traditionalist. I think when we did this realignment a few years ago and you saw teams like Nebraska leave and go to the Big Ten and Colorado leave. It was at that time we were thinking that Texas might leave and join the Big Ten or the Pac-12, and the Big 12 would have this same situation.

“What’s becoming abundantly clear, and I hate to say this because I’ve always tried to fight it, is people are trying to stay at the top. They’re trying to compete with the SEC, and it’s all about money. It’s no longer about tradition. It’s no longer about the things that I think college football have always kind of tried to stand itself on top of and really look at and appreciate rivalries and tradition and things of that nature.”

In votes Friday morning, Texas’ and Oklahoma’s board of regents voted to approve the move to the SEC.

A new television rights deal with ESPN is expected to pay the conference an extra $300 million annually doesn’t go into effect until 2024. However, that number will certainly increase with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma.

“Right now, I think it’s about money and keeping up with the Joneses and right now, Texas and OU, they’re looking over in the horizon to the east and they’re seeing that SEC and all that money, and they’re saying we can’t be left behind,” Herbstreit said. “We want to go into that neighborhood, and we want to join that group of teams, and that’s basically why we are where we are. And what this will do as far as the future, you know, if you and I are sitting here three years from now or five years from now, talking about college athletics, I have literally no idea where we are headed, but I feel like these are two big dominoes that are falling.”

And because of that, Herbstreit said, the college game is moving away from the unique things that make it great.

“I just hate losing the tradition of this sport,” he said. “I’ve always been, I guess naive to it. I’ve always tried to be the guy that’s like, ‘No, we’re gonna hold on to our traditions. People care about those traditions. They care about the rivalries.’

“Clearly, the decision-makers don’t. And we’re now in an arms race and it’s about the money.”

On the other hand, when it comes to looking at just the SEC, and not college football as a whole, Herbstreit’s can be summed up in one word: Wow.

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.

[nurbis 579]

LOL. A guy that works for ESPN complaining about money ruining college football. I still remember Herbstreit crapping on Auburn in 2004 because they wanted the big money matchup of USC and Oklahoma even though Auburn was clearly more deserving. How about Alabama getting into the playoffs when they don't even win their conference division. Let's quit pretending college football is about anything more than making money. I am sure people associated with college football still care about tradition but not anybody from ESPN. 

 

[TexasTiger 14,292]

10 minutes ago, nurbis said:

LOL. A guy that works for ESPN complaining about money ruining college football. I still remember Herbstreit crapping on Auburn in 2004 because they wanted the big money matchup of USC and Oklahoma even though Auburn was clearly more deserving. How about Alabama getting into the playoffs when they don't even win their conference division. Let's quit pretending college football is about anything more than making money. I am sure people associated with college football still care about tradition but not anybody from ESPN. 

 

He thought OU & USC were the best teams. Most folks did. Auburn came outta no where that year. I think he’s sincere, even though he works for the beast.

[fredst 9,070]

Meh. Herbstreit long ago lost any credibility with some of the ridiculous stuff he’s said, completely unrelated to Auburn. And, yes, the irony of a mouthpiece for ESPN complaining about money ruining college football is rich

[nurbis 579]

15 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

He thought OU & USC were the best teams. Most folks did. Auburn came outta no where that year. I think he’s sincere, even though he works for the beast.

USC had two top 25 wins that season. Oklahoma had three. Auburn had four. Top ten wins USC had one Oklahoma had one and Auburn had three. Auburn was more deserving. They wanted the money matchup. 

[TexasTiger 14,292]

12 minutes ago, nurbis said:

USC had two top 25 wins that season. Oklahoma had three. Auburn had four. Top ten wins USC had one Oklahoma had one and Auburn had three. Auburn was more deserving. They wanted the money matchup. 

I believe Auburn deserved it more. But when teams start at or near the top and didn’t lose in the old system they were rarely displaced. That was one of the flaws of that system.

[W.E.D 11,071]

Yeah, same from others.  Guy who is making millions from ESPN now complaining about teams making millions and looking for ways to get paid more

[boisnumber1 2,916]

Herbstreit can go suck a wolverine.

[JDUBB4AU 5,287]

Herbstreit sucks . Nobody cares about that politically correct dip s*** . Cut his salary and see if he stays at espn for “sports” tradition vs money . What a tool bag 

[AUloggerhead 2,516]

1 hour ago, fredst said:

Meh. Herbstreit long ago lost any credibility with some of the ridiculous stuff he’s said, completely unrelated to Auburn. And, yes, the irony of a mouthpiece for ESPN complaining about money ruining college football is rich

This, I agree.  The lengths that Herbstreit. Jesse Palmer, et al went to advocate on-air for the BCS system over a playoff (i.e. "every game matters!") made me want to puke every time they started that nonsense.  They were just shilling for ESPN then and I can understand that one can be loyal to your employer but, geez louise -- the situation in 2004 where 5 teams ended the regular season undefeated (SC, OU, AU, Utah & Boise St) and another in Louisville which came within an eyelash of finishing undefeated seemed to every logical cfb football fan to scream for a legit playoff between conference winners - which every one of those teams were.  And then when the 4-team playoff was announced, there was no longer a defense of the old BCS system but there was plenty of opposition to expanding the playoff beyond the 4 teams.  Of course now the 12-team playoff aligns with ESPN so they shill for that.  Yeah, OK.  ESPN is driving the super-conference bus here.  Herbstreit may be sincere in his tradition comments, but I think it's too late for him to hop off the bus he's been riding.      

[AUght2win 7,015]

2 hours ago, fredst said:

Meh. Herbstreit long ago lost any credibility with some of the ridiculous stuff he’s said, completely unrelated to Auburn. And, yes, the irony of a mouthpiece for ESPN complaining about money ruining college football is rich

ESPN might be the most singularly responsible entity for all this realignment happening. 

[AURex 2,255]

Back to the OP, rivalries come and go, traditions fade over time.

For years, Auburn and GT had an intense rivalry and traditions surrounding their annual meeting. Now they don't. Oklahoma and Nebraska were huge rivals back in the day when they were both competing for championships. Michigan vs Notre Dame, Texas vs A&M, Kansas vs Missouri ....

I don't remember Herbstreit getting all doom and gloom and weepy when those rivalries ended.

Thing is, the Oklahoma vs Texas rivalry/tradition will be preserved, as they both move to the SEC together. So what the h3ll is he blubbering about? Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State? Dat all he got?

In fact, Texas joining the SEC revives the Texas vs A&M rivalry!

 

[aubiefifty 18,231]

i would like to point out herbie has been very generous with his comments about auburn over the years even back during cam. if bad things were ever said i do not remember them.

 

[fredst 9,070]

Herbstreit is and has been a shill for corporate money taking over college football for at least 15 years. Any credibility he had as an objective observer of the sport was lost many moons ago. Hell, he may have a clause in his contract that requires him to be the devil’s advocate x percentage of the time. Who cares what he says anymore? His opinion is about as meaningful as his running buddies Fowler and Corso

[JuscAUse! 1,673]

10 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

He thought OU & USC were the best teams. Most folks did. Auburn came outta no where that year. I think he’s sincere, even though he works for the beast.

Uhhh....No. My family, AU and uat fans, knew Oklahoma had no chance against USC. IMHO, and I was in Atlanta watching the SEC Championship game, Auburns final score was directly related to the final score of the OU and Oklahoma State game, which was on the big screen. The air went out of our team when they saw the final, though our game was never in doubt. OU had no defense, and everybody that knew football was aware of that. Herbstreit knows more football than we do, so he played the ESPN ratings game and pushed OU. It was a ratings bonanza. And a freaking blowout, just like we all knew it would be. AU was the only team that could have beaten the best team money could buy. Outside of west Alabama, anyway.

[TexasTiger 14,292]

11 hours ago, JuscAUse! said:

Uhhh....No. My family, AU and uat fans, knew Oklahoma had no chance against USC. IMHO, and I was in Atlanta watching the SEC Championship game, Auburns final score was directly related to the final score of the OU and Oklahoma State game, which was on the big screen. The air went out of our team when they saw the final, though our game was never in doubt. OU had no defense, and everybody that knew football was aware of that. Herbstreit knows more football than we do, so he played the ESPN ratings game and pushed OU. It was a ratings bonanza. And a freaking blowout, just like we all knew it would be. AU was the only team that could have beaten the best team money could buy. Outside of west Alabama, anyway.

Folks in the SEC had a different opinion. Most national sportswriters at the time tended to take the view that those who started ranked high had to be knocked off.

[SLAG-91 1,611]

Our 2004 team paid for the underachievement of the 2003 team, period, full stop.

20 hours ago, AUloggerhead said:

Herbstreit may be sincere in his tradition comments, but I think it's too late for him to hop off the bus he's been riding. 

1000 percent accurate.  

[Mikey 16,781]

Yes, AU no longer plays Tech. Tennessee and Florida come up on the schedule rarely. Anyone who thinks this makes for a better season from a fan standpoint doesn't remember how great those game days were.

That bridge over the Tennessee River, just below the stadium is a piece of architecture that could be looked at for hours. Gainesville, even back in the day, was its own piece of madness. There was nothing quite like walking through the Tech campus with your date on the way to the stadium and having the guys in the dorms yell all sorts of obscenities.

Like Herbstreit or not, his point about tradition and rivalries being killed for the almighty dollar is spot on.

[fredst 9,070]

52 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Yes, AU no longer plays Tech. Tennessee and Florida come up on the schedule rarely. Anyone who thinks this makes for a better season from a fan standpoint doesn't remember how great those game days were.

That bridge over the Tennessee River, just below the stadium is a piece of architecture that could be looked at for hours. Gainesville, even back in the day, was its own piece of madness. There was nothing quite like walking through the Tech campus with your date on the way to the stadium and having the guys in the dorms yell all sorts of obscenities.

Like Herbstreit or not, his point about tradition and rivalries being killed for the almighty dollar is spot on.

His point might be correct but the fact that he was in the cab of the steamroller that was leaving this path of destroyed traditions in its wake makes him a poor spokesperson to be making this point. I lament the loss of great traditions as much as anyone but ESPN would be best served keeping their collective mouths shut about “money is destroying college sports”.  The hypocrisy is unseemly 

[toddc 13,197]

42 minutes ago, fredst said:

The hypocrisy is unseemly 

And they don’t even care or think it’s a problem! 😝 

[JuscAUse! 1,673]

3 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

Folks in the SEC had a different opinion. Most national sportswriters at the time tended to take the view that those who started ranked high had to be knocked off.

Not trying to be a tool here, but my point was that if I could see that USC or Auburn (or Oklahoma State for that matter) could crush that defense, Herbie could, too. So he was at the very least being disingenuous. They had a good offense, but they didn't play a defense with a pulse all year. I do understand that ESPN pushed OU all year and and justified the push in different ways for different arguments. But the real reason was viewers and $$$$.

[woodford 3,732]

He’s right but like someone said he’s too late

 

He’s the version of a CFB statist (works for ESPN)

[aub4life 33]

On 8/1/2021 at 10:16 AM, nurbis said:

LOL. A guy that works for ESPN complaining about money ruining college football. I still remember Herbstreit crapping on Auburn in 2004 because they wanted the big money matchup of USC and Oklahoma even though Auburn was clearly more deserving. How about Alabama getting into the playoffs when they don't even win their conference division. Let's quit pretending college football is about anything more than making money. I am sure people associated with college football still care about tradition but not anybody from ESPN. 

 

He did poor mouth AU in 2004.  The next year we had passes through Home Depot to go on the Gameday set and meet the on air guys.  My AU football family is 6 of us - 2 girls and 4 guys.  One of the girls gave Herbie the business about 2004.  He said “ Jeez, hold a grudge much?”  LOL!  War Eagle!

[auburnphan 6,050]

We assume all traditions were good……F*** ‘em and move on.  

[TexasTiger 14,292]

5 hours ago, auburnphan said:

We assume all traditions were good……F*** ‘em and move on.  

So which ones sucked?