For all the noise about ESPN running interference for the SEC, let’s get one thing straight: if media bias exists, South Carolina would’ve found some of it by now. But take a look around. Nobody is rushing to defend the Gamecocks. Nobody is inflating their résumé. Nobody is bending reality to make South Carolina look better than it is. If anything, Shane Beamer and his Gamecocks have become an easy target, the punchline of many jokes, and even the example that people use when they claim the SEC isn't unbeatable. That alone undercuts the whole "ESPN loves the SEC" narrative. And that is exactly the point that Kirk Herbstreit was trying to drive home when he finally lost his patience over that same, old, tired narrative.
Herbstreit: Enough with the SEC conspiracy theories
On the latest episode of his Nonstop Podcast with Joey Galloway, Herbstreit, who has become the face of ESPN’s college football coverage for more than three decades now, once again torched the idea that he’s part of some grand SEC propaganda machine.
A large portion of the college football world, especially those who’ve never set foot in SEC territory, insists that ESPN favors the league because of media-rights partnerships. The thought is simple: ESPN broadcasts the SEC. ESPN broadcasts the Playoff. Therefore, ESPN pushes SEC teams. But Herbstreit shredded that logic.
“These idiots say, ‘How much do people pay you to say this bulls—?’ F-off," he fired back. "I get so tired of the bulls—. I just get so f—ing tired. These people talking about the SEC, ‘How much they pay you’ — are you kidding me? I’ve been here for 30 years.”
South Carolina is Exhibit A that no media safety net exists
If anything, Herbstreit's frustration hits differently when you apply it to South Carolina, a program that has taken every punch from national media this fall. If ESPN were indeed propping up the SEC, the Gamecocks wouldn't be the program the internet uses as a measuring stick for what has gone wrong in the league. They wouldn’t be catching strays week after week whenever the national conversation turns to coaching hot seats, blown leads, or underachieving rosters.
There certainly is no bias cushioning South Carolina. If anything, the spotlight has been harsher, the commentary louder, and the grace nonexistent.
“Everybody recognizes the depth and challenge of the SEC”
Herbstreit doubled down on the core of his argument in the podcast when he talked about how, bias or not, it is a fact that the conference is objectively the toughest path in the sport.
“You can hate that. You can make fun of that. Do whatever the hell you want with that,” he said. “That’s the reality of the sport. That’s the reality of the world.”
He’s not saying the SEC deserves special treatment, but you cannot ignore the fact that South Carolina, even in a down year, is navigating a schedule that would snap most teams in half.
The bottom line: South Carolina proves the bias narrative doesn’t hold water
If SEC bias were as real as the loudest voices on the internet claim, South Carolina would be propped up, framed as "better than their record," and cushioned with excuses. Instead, they have been treated like the struggling program they are in a ruthless league.
And Herbstreit didn't defend the SEC, he defended the reality of college football. South Carolina, intentionally or not, helped him make the case.