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College fans are unhappy with ESPN's coverage of the first round of this year's College Football Playoff. This season, the tournament expanded to allow 12 teams to compete.
ESPN had two playoff games last week. One matchup was the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-1) vs. the No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers (11-2, 8-1 Big Ten) in the first round of the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 20.
Fox Sports commentator Tim Brando spoke out against the coverage on X/Twitter on Monday as he also linked to an Awful Announcing article criticizing ESPN.
"ESPN's CFP coverage makes for a miserable experience," Brando wrote.
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Fans have chimed in on Brando's tweet in support of his comments.
"I can't believe this needs to be said but thank you for being an advocate of winning games and not just compiling the best roster on paper," a fan wrote.
"Angry Kirk and yelling Chris Fowler were a little too much for me. Sean McDonough I think is one of the best pxp guys. Miss all the old pros," another fan wrote.
"ESPN coverage dropped the ball on this new format and the opportunity to showcase the expanded CFP instead of bash it. New fan bases/ teams were included this year and were beyond excited only to hear media pundits criticize their accomplishments to be included. Do Better!," a fan commented.
More fans piled on ESPN's 'miserable' coverage.
"Anything ESPN covers is pretty much a miserable experience," a fan replied.
"Only the World Wide Leader can screw up a 12 team playoff," a fifth fan commented.
"espn2 with McAfee and crew was so much better....," a fan wrote.
ESPN's Sean McDonough and Kirk Herbstreit make negative comments during CFP coverage
ESPN commentator Sean McDonough covered Notre Dame's matchup against Indiana. In the fourth quarter, with 2:51 left, Notre Dame had a 24-point advantage over their opponents.
The commentator called the game a 'dud' and later questioned why Indiana deserved a playoff spot more than other teams.
"What was it about their (Indiana) resume that said they were clearly more deserving than SMU or Alabama," McDonough said.
McDonough continued to question how the College Football Playoff Committee allowed the Hoosiers to compete in the playoffs and suggested that they reconsider their selection process next year.
"I think they need to lose the assumption that the SEC and the Big Ten are clearly head and shoulders above everybody else, particularly the Big Ten," McDonough said.
(from 0:22 mark onwards)
The Hoosiers scored 14 points within the final two minutes of the game. Notre Dame won 27-17 in the All-State Sugar Bowl to advance to the quarterfinals, where it will face the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs (11-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) on Jan. 1, 2025.
(from 0:16 mark onwards)
ESPN's college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit commented on the contest during College GameDay on Dec. 21. He also felt Indiana showed why they shouldn't have competed in the playoffs over other teams.
"Indiana was outclassed in that game. It is not a team that should've been on that field when you consider other teams that could've been there. It's no knock on Indiana. They had a great year, but we've got to move forward with the playoff and hope that the committee does a better job of weighing who the best 12 are vs. who is the most deserving," Herbstreit said.
ESPN will cover all four College Football Playoff quarterfinal games, Penn State vs Boise State, Texas vs Arizona State, Ohio State vs Oregon, and Notre Dame vs Georgia.
Notre Dame Fans? Check out the latest Notre Dame depth chart, schedule, and roster updates all in one place.
