Kirk Herbstreit reacts to College Football Playoff field with Alabama over Ohio State

“Then I watched the Ohio State-Wisconsin game and I don’t know if the committee looked at it the way I did, but after the Ohio State-Wisconsin game, if you’re asking me if the goal is to put the best four teams in, I said Alabama.”

RELATED: Ohio State did all it could to make and break its playoff case

RELATED: 4-team playoff living on borrowed time?

RELATED: Big plays power Buckeyes to Big Ten championship win over Wisconsin

The Buckeyes beat the previously-undefeated Badgers 27-21, hanging on in the second half after staking out a 21-7 lead early.

“Despite them winning the game, I felt that Alabama should be the team that should go ahead of Ohio State,” Herbstreit said. “I don’t know what the committee looks at. I know there are coaches on the committee. At the end of the day when you watch 12 or 13 weeks of college football, I personally believe the best four teams are in the College Football Playoff.”

Herbstreit predicted the Crimson Tide will look the part in January after injuries have time to heal.

“Listen, I went to Ohio State. I was a captain there. If anybody wants to pull out the pom-poms and say Ohio State should be there, you’d think it would be me. I’ve always for 22 years said what I think for better or for worse, and I’m just telling you after watching all these teams play, Alabama is better than USC. I don’t care what the numbers show. I don’t care what conference championships they’re playing in. Alabama is a better team.”

He also said, somewhat bizarrely, “at the end of the day” the committee doesn’t have to have reasons” for going with the Crimson Tide if they believe Alabama is among the top four and pointed out OSU coach Urban Meyer didn’t make a big deal about his team being left out.

As for expanding to an eight-team playoff, he said he likes the debate generated by the four-team field every year.