Herbstreit apologizes for taking shot at Michigan
We just couldn’t let this stuff go …
ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit apologized Tuesday for suggesting the Michigan football team might use the coronavirus as an excuse to avoid having to play highly ranked Ohio State, impairing their archrivals’ chances of being included in the four-team College Football Playoff, writes Des Bieler of The Washington Post.
Herbstreit (pictured) said during a network recap of the latest playoff rankings, “I still think Michigan waves the white flag and potentially avoids playing Ohio State next week” without citing evidence. Asked to clarify by colleague Rece Davis, Herbstreit said: “I’ve talked to a lot of coaches around the country that have said they really feel teams are opting out to avoid playing games. Because they don’t want to get humiliated.”
About an hour later, Herbstreit apologized in a video he posted on social media.
“I had no business at all saying that,” said Herbstreit, a former quarterback at Ohio State. “I have no evidence of that. It was completely unfair to the University of Michigan, to Jim Harbaugh, to his players and coaches, and I just want to apologize.”
Ohio State is ranked fourth despite having played only four games, with Michigan State on Saturday and Michigan the following week remaining on its regular season schedule. The Big Ten has mandated that a team must play at least six games to be eligible for the conference championship. Missing out would likely give the playoff selection committee pause about including a team with such a limited body of work.
Michigan announced Wednesday it has canceled this Saturday’s game against Maryland and will pause practices until at least Monday. The game will not be rescheduled.
The Wolverines have struggled in a 2-4 start to the season and have lost eight straight games to the Buckeyes, including the last two by a total of 52 points.
“I have no idea what Michigan’s situation is,” Herbstreit had said, “but I’m saying they have the power to potentially say, ‘Hey, we can’t play next week,’ and there’s nothing Ohio State could do about it.”