Kirk Herbstreit suggests getting a bye in the College Football Playoff could hurt teams

Just under one week away from the College Football Playoff selection show, things are getting real.

No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana will clash in the Big Ten Championship Game this weekend, while other Playoff contenders No. 3 Georgia/No. 10 Alabama (SEC) and No. 4 Texas Tech/No. 11 BYU (Big 12) will clash in their respective conference title games as well.

After all conference title games have been played, 12 College Football Playoff spots will be divvied out. Four of these 12 teams will enjoy a first-round bye, which you would think would be extremely coveted. While the other eight teams are playing games, the four teams with a bye will be able to sit around and wait on their opponent to be decided on the field.

Kirk Herbstreit suggests getting a bye could hurt a team

However, in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff last season, all four teams with a first-round bye dropped their Quarterfinal matchup. No. 1 Oregon fell to No. 8 Ohio State 41-21, No. 2 Georgia fell to No. 7 Notre Dame 23-10, No. 3 Boise State fell to No. 6 Penn State 31-14, and No. 4 Arizona State fell to No. 5 Texas 39-31. Just one of the four games were even close.

Because of how last season went, ESPN‘s Kirk Herbstreit questioned if not playing in the First Round could hurt a team instead of help it. This could boil down to having game experience prior to a Quarterfinal matchup, as opposed to being cold after playing in nearly two weeks.

“You would assume if the Ohio State/Indiana game is a close game, no matter which team wins, I think they’re both going to get a bye,” Herbstreit said on ‘Nonstop with Kirk Herbstreit‘. “If Georgia wins, they’re gonna get a bye. If Texas Tech wins, they’re gonna get a bye. And remember last year? The four teams that had the bye all lost. I don’t know if you want the bye!”

The sample size is small, but all four teams that hosted a home Playoff game went on to advance to the Semifinals last season. No. 8 seeded Ohio State eventually went on to win the National Championship. With the possibility of two of three coachless Tulane/North Texas/James Madison programs nabbing spots and having to play road games in the First Round, there is a strong possibility that this scenario could happen once again this year.