Kirk Herbstreit on conference realignment: 'More's coming'

Kirk Herbstreit had some fascinating takes regarding conference realignment as the 2023 season approaches.

The reality is that 2023 could be the last season of college football as we currently know it. So many longstanding conference rivalries and traditions are going by the wayside, and change is on the horizon for 2024.

Nevertheless, Herbstreit can’t wait to see what happens, even if he believes we’re far from done as it pertains to realignment talk.

“I just feel like more’s coming,” predicted Herbstreit, regarding conference realignment on The Pat McAfee Show. “I just don’t feel like, I don’t feel like we’re done, until we get to August of 2024, I feel like anything and everything’s in play. So I’m trying my hardest to keep an open mind to this whole thing, because once you put teams like West Virginia and Penn State on the field together, you see those uniforms on the field together competing, all the bulls— and all the noise kind of goes away, and it’s just football. And the game is still freaking unbelievable.

“The passion and the emotion of the fanbases is still unbelievable. So despite all of the tornadoes that are going on around the sport, thank god we’re a couple weeks away from the ball going in the air, and watching these teams play and still being a lot of fun.”

Herbstreit makes a good point, as all the noise goes away once that ball is in the air on the opening kickoff. Whether it’s a traditional rivalry showdown or a new matchup featuring two freshly-minted conference opponents, the bones are the same, and college football fans love those bones.

Still, there are plenty of questions to be answered before the 2024 season is set. The PAC-12 is still in complete flux, as their remaining teams are looking for answers as to what their future holds beyond this season.

Additionally, the ACC seems like they’re hanging on for dear life, as the Big Ten and the SEC just wait to pick their best up and add them to their conference if they falter. And the Big 12 simply remains, adding some interesting new programs to their group of squads over and over again.

Whether we’re all set for 2024 remains to be seen, but all signs point to more change on the horizon. Time will tell, but Kirk Herbstreit is excited regardless, and it’s easy to see why.