Kirk Herbstreit reveals his top 4, albeit with a catch (Don’t be mad Ohio State fans)

Kirk Herbstreit may have offended all of Buckeye Nation with this tweet.

How does Kirk Herbstreit not have the Ohio State Buckeyes in his top four?

The lead college football analyst for ESPN and former Ohio State quarterback has some explaining to do. It’s obvious who the four best teams in the country are. He correctly identified three of them because it is that easy. However, he decided to throw us all a curveball and not consider his alma mater for inclusion because the Buckeyes haven’t played a game yet. He’s all about “The U” now.

If Ohio State isn’t a top-six team by the end of 2020, something went wrong.

By deciding to go with only teams who have played this season, Herbstreit did open himself up to criticism. However, the four teams he put in the Clemson Tigers, the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Florida Gators, the Miami Hurricanes make sense, as well to some degree the first two teams he has out in the Georgia Bulldogs and the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Everybody and their brother would have Clemson, Alabama and Florida in their top four. Clemson and Alabama are the two concurrent dynasties in the Power 5. Florida looked unbelievable offensively in its season-opening win over the Ole Miss Rebels. Though the Miami inclusion is pushing it, the ‘Canes have been a great story so far under second-year head coach Manny Diaz.

As for the first two teams out, the Georgia inclusion is questionable. At the start of the season, that would make a ton of sense, as the Dawgs are elite at being one of the first two teams out under head coach Kirby Smart. However, the offense looked atrocious in the first half vs. the Arkansas Razorbacks. Thankfully, Smart’s defense remains championship caliber in Athens.

As for Mississippi State coming in at that No. 6 spot, the Bulldogs looked impressive vs. the former No. 6 team in the land in the LSU Tigers. Who didn’t love that Air Raid fireworks show orchestrated by K.J. Costello for “The Pirate” Mike Leach? Though it may not be sustainable this season, why not give Mississippi State a tad more love than they should be getting entering Week 5?

For all in Buckeye Nation that is enraged with fury over this, don’t sweat it. As soon as the Buckeyes destroy Scott Frost‘s Nebraska Cornhuskers on Oct. 24, you’ll pop right back up to the top-three where you rightfully belong. However, if you lose on the road to the Penn State Nittany Lions on Halloween, that might be the end of your College Football Playoff hopes for 2020.

Herbstreit’s logic may be flawed to some, but he’s going by what he’s seen in his rankings.

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