"It's like a firehose": Kirk Herbstreit describes current state of CFB rivalries and traditions

College football broadcaster and Ohio State alumni Kirk Herbstreit appeared on 'The McShay Show' on Friday to talk about the upcoming National Championship Game and the college football landscape. Before they started to talk about the game, Todd McShay asked Kirk Herbstreit what he wanted to preserve in college football, knowing that the game would naturally change over time.

Herbstreit talked about how he wants to preserve the traditions and rivalries in college football (starts at 6:25).

"Well the traditions obviously. The rivalries, all that," said Herbstreit. "A lot of this with the realignment. Everything, it's like a firehose. We're so focused on NIL and the portal, but USC playing Oregon is a Big Ten conference game. Your mind exploded.

"So, I think the biggest thing that concerns me is who's in charge. If you're Greg Sankey, you have a very focused agenda for as the sport moves forward as far as the SEC. And Tony in the Big Ten is focused on the Big Ten and of course they should. I think we're governing the sport like it's 1982."

Kirk Herbstreit talks about how college football used to be a regional sport

Kirk Herbstreit then went on to talk about how college football used to be a regional sport, but he is worried the sport is moving away from that (starts at 7:15).

"It used to be a regional sport," Herbstreit said. "I don't know like for you guys, but if you grew up in Ohio in the 70s and 80s, the only thing you knew about was the Rose Bowl. What Alabama or whatever Miami and Florida was doing, I mean you watched, but it was like a different pool. It didn't affect you."

Kirk Herbstreit then talked about how if you were an Ohio State fan back then and your team had a middling year but beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, it felt like a successful year. He no longer feels like that is the case.

He also talked about how it now feels like it is more of a national sport, despite the fact that some fans still care about the rivalry games. Ohio State's loss to Michigan in the regular season finale was certainly a big deal, but if they win the National Championship on Monday, most fans will not care that much.

They would rather win the National Championship than beat Michigan, and Herbstreit believes that was not always the case.