Kirk Herbstreit shares strong reaction to Alabama rescheduling USF game
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Early Tuesday morning, the Alabama Crimson Tide announced some big non-conference scheduling changes. Gone are the South Florida Bulls from Alabama’s 2026 slate. Instead, the Chattanooga Mocs (FCS) will be coming to Tuscaloosa. And Kirk Herbstreit isn’t happy about it.
Herbstreit took to X (formerly Twitter) to discuss Alabama’s decision and what it could mean is on the horizon for college football at-large. He expects more major programs to follow the Crimson Tide’s lead and book more “cupcake” opponents in the non-conference due to the apparent emphasis on quantity of wins (rather than quality of wins) from the College Football Playoff committee.
South Florida likely won’t be the same beast next season that it was this year now that Alex Golesh is at Auburn. Regardless, a matchup with the Bulls — an American conference member — is inherently riskier than one with the Mocs or Marshall Thundering Herd, whom Alabama added to its 2027 schedule.
It’s possible that the Crimson Tide will miss the CFP due to their season-opening loss to Florida State if they don’t beat Georgia in the SEC Championship game. ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Alabama just a 66.5% chance of making the CFP ahead of its conference championship bout. Meanwhile, Notre Dame — who isn’t in a conference and has the same record (10-2) as the Crimson Tide with just 1 win over a currently CFP-ranked school — has 83.5% odds of getting in, per FPI.
Depending on how this situation with the Fighting Irish — and Miami’s own separate issue centering on Notre Dame — unfolds, there could be very little incentive for quality non-conference games in 2026. If that’s the case, Herbstreit will wind up looking like a prophet, whether he wants to or not.
