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It's nice that he apologized, and no, I don't think that he had it in for the Gators. I think there's enough reason to suspect, though, that he was pushing ESPN/ABC's agenda (as most know, they have a deal with the Big Ten and compete for viewers with CBS and their SEC deal). Plus, Herbie never said that he thought that Florida's tough schedule would catch up with their stamina. He said he didn't think they were as good as UM because he saw them struggle against Kentucky, Vandy, Carolina, etc. And while he may be apologizing now, he'll play the same game again this year, if he has the chance. He did the same thing to Auburn in 04, choosing to promote Oklahoma's high margin of victory in a relatively weak schedule over Auburn's lower margin of victory in a very tough schedule.

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Yeah only difference is that Michigan had the NCAA no.2 rated schedule, only second to Florida by a hair. The Auburn/Oklahoma debacle was much more moronic if you ask me...OU's schedule wasn't close to Auburn's, they just wanted two Heisman winners in one hyped game (well, to be fair all MNC games are hyped). I guess everything is clearer in hindsight...everyone likes to forget about that.

Let's say OSU slammed Florida into bits, people could've said Boise St. deserved it b/c they were undefeated and so on. Or what if USC hadn't lost to UCLA? Then we'd have three one-loss teams, and two of them would be screwed. And I'll say it again, Florida really didn't look that impressive all year round and showed up when it mattered. Why is Herbie thrown into a wall for showing his malcontent with a team that didn't look so great for 12 games of the year. Their schedule wasn't much more difficult than Michigan's...period. Easy to call him a fool in hindsight. Especially when you're lookin at some of the people who get BCS ballot votes and say things like "Florida should be in the title game because they only lost to a good LSU at LSU" when uh...they didn't. It's an emotional topic, and although some composure was lost, don't act like he's the only one who lost it. Danielson is just as guilty, and you're fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

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Herbie missed by one word:

Herbie said "I was an Idiot"

Should have said : "I am an Idiot"

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Well, I agree that Florida looked a lot better in the BCS game than they had all year. They certainly played their best game at the right time. But I still don't think there should have been much question as to who got to play in the game. UM may have had a #2 ranked schedule, but why? Sure, they played a number of "tough" road games. But were they really tough? I think we can all agree that the 2006 Fightin Irish were one of the most overhyped teams in recent memory. They probably shouldn't have finished in the top 25. Penn State was good, but they didn't seem to really click until the final weeks of the season. UM played Iowa at home. That looked like a good game at the beginning of the year, but Iowa was a bust. They played a good Wisconsin team in Ann Arbor. And of course OSU in Columbus. Other than OSU, Wisconsin, and maybe Penn State, I'd say they had a pretty easy time of it.

And look, I'm not saying that the Big 10 is absolutely awful all the time. But other than OSU, Michigan, and Wisconsin, they weren't very good last year. I would rank the conference fourth last year, behind the SEC, Pac-10, and Big 12. That wasn't apparent at the beginning of the year, but it was at the end. Just my opinion

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I will say, though, that you're right about 04 being more egregious. It goes without saying that Auburn's 04 backfield of Campbell, Brown and Williams are now starting in the NFL. I'm not sure that they would have beaten Southern Cal, but they were much better than Oklahoma.

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Yeah, I mean, we could argue about all of this for days...but I think Herbie has been dogged on enough. I agree with you that Florida played a tough scheg, but like I said, I still don't think the SEC is that much better than the B10. More depth yes, but Michigan manhandled Vanderbilt and Florida had a tough time. Although that argument barely makes sense, it does show that the teams cannot be that far apart and that the whole schedule ranking is kind of overrated. Not to mention that UM doesn't really pick their own opponents and can't choose to play all top 25 teams. However, barring a fluke Ball St. game...their performance given their schedule was very good in comparison to Florida's slightly more difficult schedule that they didn't handle nearly as well. I'm not asking for you to blow out a team, but you don't almost lose to Vandy (whom, again, UM handled) and beat S.Carolina on a missed field goal and expect to be HANDS DOWN the best no.2 team. Anywho, Florida deserved their title and I will never deny that. If Michigan played in a rematch and beat OSU, they would've deserved their title. Unfortunately somebody had to go down. No big deal.

However...Herbie is paid to give his honest, sports analytical opinion, whether you like it or not is up to you. It's not like what he said was unfounded. Michigan did deserve to be in the champ game based on their previous work, so did Florida. Again, someone had to sit out. He never bashed Florida, but on the other side of the debate, Danielson thought Michigan was the most undeserving of all BCS teams and even cited Oklahoma as a better suitor for the Buckeyes. If anyone looked stupid in this debate and made remarks that were completely unfounded, it was Danielson...not Herbstreit. The fact that there were 3 articles by Mr. Ferguson bashing Herbie's comments is beyond me.

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Herbie, tells it like it is, he does a good job and you can agree or not. He doesn't let the fact he played for one of the best programs in the country get in his way. No way could any one think that Fl. would put together that kind of a game and the Buckeyes stay on the bus. Just becasue someone thinks Herbie call it wrong doesn't make it right, like someone said, NO BIG DEAL.

And we'll be back........Go Bucks.

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I really won't argue that the Big 10 isn't much worse than the SEC. The SEC was a lot better last year, but it was a good year for the SEC and a bad one for the Big 10, with several of the middle of the pack Big 10 teams (Iowa, Michigan State) having poor years, while the SEC had an extremely competetive middle-tier (Tennessee, Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia). The SEC has poor years, too--2005, for example. And it's not like the SEC is the only conference to get snubbed. I really thought Michigan got hosed by the coaches poll in the late 90s when they split with Nebraska.

I do, though, think Herbie is a little less than honest. The same could be said of most of the ESPN analysts, as well as Danielson. While I of course can't prove this, they all seem to toe the company line a little too often for me to really think they're 100% creditable. This isn't just in college football, of course. I was listening to Colin Cowherd on the radio the other day, and he proclaimed the Yankees the sixth best team in baseball. Maybe they'll get there eventually, but they have another three weeks or so of stellar play before they catch up with the top teams. It just seemed like more East Coast bias to me.

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Let me see here... we are regaling a sports analyst for having an opinion? So Herbie didn't think Florida was sgood enough to win the National Championship. So what? Does this mean that if Lee Corso comes out this late summer or early fall and says that Boise State will win the title or that LSU or USC or Michigan won't even get into a bowl game, that wee are going to tie him to a stake and burn him, too? Kirk Herbstriet doesn't owe anyone an apology, Gator Nation or otherwise. For those of you who think he is pushing a corporate agenda, how many of you toe your company line? I thought so. In this day and age where sports analysts and commentators get fired for having opinions contrary to the national or corporate view, Herbie would be smart to view things the way his employers do. Otherwise he would be talking college football to his buddies in the unemployment line.

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Kirk is biased and will always be biased. He just needs to do a better job at not making it so obvious.

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If I disagree with my company's agenda, I voice my opinion in a respectful, deferential manner and that's that. Now, I may have more tolerant employers than most, but I would say that a lot of companies don't require their employees to be complete lemmings, as long as they don't act in ways that hurts the bottom line. While you, Chris, may be a complete follower at work, not all of us are.

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I'm still trying to figure out how Danielson was out of line.

Florida's bowl performance validated almost everything he said in the SEC championship game, and he was completely honest and accurate in the radio interview where he called out ESPN/ABC for spending the entire year hyping Ohio State and Michigan.

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Yeah, but Danielson was essentially doing the same thing ESPN/ABC did, in that he was hyping CBS's conference, the SEC. In hindsight, Florida did validate what he said, so he happened to be right. I certainly agree with him. But I do think that the way the stations compete with each other by hyping their conferences is bad for the sport. The AP rankings are decided by the media, and it's easy for the influence of ESPN/ABC and CBS to find it's way into the heads of the sportswriters. Don't forget that Herbstreit voted Auburn 18th in the nation at the end of the year. Was that his "honest" opinion? Did he really think that Notre Dame, who had a worse record and got ripped to shreds in the Sugar Bowl by a team Auburn beat, was better than Auburn? Or was he sticking to ESPN's agenda (riding the Irish for all their worth)?

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The Gators destroyed osu and Mich. got smoked by usc, so it is clear that Danielson was vindicated. You can't blame him for being on the money!! Mich. barely held on at home to beat BALL ST!!!! That says enough right there, but the rose bowl answered any doubts about how bad um sucked!! I here Ball St. wants a rematch with um on a neutral field!!!

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Thanks for the link to Saurian Sagacity.

The problem with Herbie is not that he had a different opinion than some of us, it's the way he communicated that opinion. He came across like a whiny baby when Florida got the bid.

And his attacks on Gary Danielson were bad form. Danielson was playing devil's advocate and I think he did his job during the Championship game. He had the Championship game for the conference that Herbie acknowledges was the toughest and yet Herbie said Michigan should have gotten the bid and called Danielson's credibility into question.

I don't think Herbie had an ax to grind against Florida but at the same time I think he's a terrible analyst. While Danielson tried to back his argument up with stats and schedules, Kirk's argument was "I watch a lot of games and I think Michigan is the number 2 team in the country." Interestingly he recently told a reporter that last year the Big 10 was "down top to bottom" last year which is laughable because he thought that the two best teams in the land were in that conference up until the kickoff of the Rose Bowl.

In short, he's like those old scouts that are described in Moneyball, ignoring statistical information in favor of anecdotal "I saw it with my own eyes" evidence.

After the BCS championship Game Danielson was gracious in not piling on Herbie and further clarifying his position that teams should not be anointed. That there's a reason they play the games.

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Herb is not a Gator hater. In his opinion a Ohio State Michigan rematch would have a super championship game compared to the Gator blowout of the Buckeyes. Herb you are forgiven but you were right.

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