Au Contraire, Mr. Herbstreit

I just watched a short bit by Kirk Herbstreit on Sportscenter, and would like to rebut his fallacious arguments.

First, Kirk was asked if an undefeated USF warrants playing in the "national championship" game. His response was essentially, "No, a one loss LSU or Oklahoma is more deserving." About 30 seconds later, he was asked if the rash of upsets in college football this year is further evidence of the need for a playoff. His response was, "No, the great thing about college football is that the regular season counts." (This is a common argument against a playoff.) He continued, saying, "If anything, the BCS needs a 'plus one' system."

Now for my rebuttal. First, the easy one. Herbstreit called for a 'plus one' system, where BCS teams 1 and 4 play, and teams 2 and 3 play, with the winners meeting in a championship game. How exactly is this not a playoff system? Granted, most people calling for a playoff system are looking for an 8 or 16 team playoff, but the 'plus one' system is a playoff system. To call it otherwise is stupid. But instead, people like Herbstreit say "We don't need a playoff" and then are basically muttering under their breath, "but we should have a 4 team playoff."

Point number 2 is this: Herbstreit directly contradicts himself with the statements about USF and the regular season. By indicating that USF cannot go to the "national championship" game, he is saying that their regular season doesn't matter one bit. According to him, there is absolutely nothing they can do about it. He is, in effect, saying "The regular season counts, but for some schools, it doesn't count, because even if they win, we won't let them be the best anyway."