1. If you’re a college football fan, it won’t get much better for you than this weekend, with a slew of matchups between ranked teams. It also won’t get much more frustrating for you than this weekend, with the two best games kicking off at the same time.
Oregon-Penn State will get underway on NBC at 7:30 p.m. ET while Alabama-Georgia will also begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
I fully understand that networks couldn’t care less about the fans, but why on earth one of these games couldn’t kick off at 7 and the other at 8 is beyond me.
Kirk Herbstreit will call that important SEC matchup and even he is frustrated by this week’s scheduling.
“It’s another example of why we need eventually a commissioner’s office like the NFL has a commissioner’s office,” Herbstreit said during an appearance on this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina. “There are a lot of different layers to what that office can do, obviously, in this NIL and portal era and the realignment era.
“As a guy who eats and breathes college football, there are some weeks in college football where there might be one good game. And there are other weeks like this week. You could argue this is the greatest weekend of the entire year starting Friday night when there are good games. From GameDay and then after GameDay at noon eastern all the way, if you’re crazy like me, you’ll watch BYU and Colorado at 10:15 and that’ll go until 1 in the morning.
“And you’re thinking, why wouldn’t we have somebody, instead of the Big Ten in their own silo and the SEC in their silo, the Big 12 and the ACC, wouldn’t it be great if we had a commissioner’s office to just, let’s spread some of these games out.”
According to Herbstreit, stacking the schedule shouldn’t happen.
“Obviously, some teams like a Vanderbilt comes out of nowhere, a Georgia Tech. But I’m talking about the Alabamas, the Ohio States, the Texas. The big blueblood brands. It makes no sense to have all these games on one weekend.
“I’ll be calling my game with one eye here, and I always have a four pack of TVs to my right next to my stats monitor, but I’ll have one eye between the hedges calling that game and one eye over here [on Oregon-Penn State] because I wanna see what’s going on.
“That is frustrating.”
Clearly, Herbstreit is a busy guy, but if college football does institute a commissioner, he’d be perfect for the job since he understands the basics about scheduling. Obviously, you can’t move Oregon-Penn State or Alabama-Georgia to a different day, but it’s just a slap in the face to every college football fan that both games will start at the same exact time.
You can listen to the full interview with Herbstreit on this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina, where he also discussed life on College GameDay without Lee Corso, the success of Pat McAfee’s field-goal kicking contest, what Nick Saban brings to GameDay and his wildly hectic weekly schedule with Thursday Night Football, College GameDay and calling ABC/ESPN’s top game and more, below.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
2. In Monday’s Traina Thoughts, I suggested NBC hire Mariners broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith for its lead play-by-play gig next season. Just listen to Goldsmith’s calls of Cal Raleigh’s two home runs last night. Tremendous.
OH MY GOODNESS, CAL 🤯
— Seattle Mariners - y (@Mariners) September 25, 2025
No. 59 went ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP DECK! pic.twitter.com/draXsM2BwE
THAT IS NUMBER 60 FOR CAL!!! HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/aOsjshML2P
— Seattle Mariners - y (@Mariners) September 25, 2025
3. Speaking of Cal Raleigh’s 60th home run, it would appear that the guy who caught the ball gave it to a young kid, which should be highlighted since the entire world went after that Phillies Karen from a few weeks ago.
Amazing….guy that caught Cal Raleigh’s 60th HR last night gave it to a kid….not many would do this….gotta love it! pic.twitter.com/aejd2pT1g7
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) September 25, 2025
This is the man that caught cal Raleigh’s 60th home run! He gave it to a kid who got swept away by the mariners team employees. What a gem and a Seattle legend pic.twitter.com/eNbUsDMy2K
— NW NUGS (@NWNugs) September 25, 2025
4. What a Wednesday for Chris “Mad Dog” Russo. In the morning, he was on First Take going ballistic over a very important sports story: Dave Pasch’s travel schedule from last weekend, when the play-by-play guy had to call a Missouri football game for ESPN on Saturday night and the Arizona Cardinals game for local radio on Sunday afternoon.
Chris Russo is really mad about @DavePasch's travel schedule.pic.twitter.com/npBNkWIKhB
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 24, 2025
In the afternoon, Russo, doing his SiriusXM show from Bethpage ahead of the Ryder Cup, found out that Scottie Scheffler’s father is a huge fan.
The story goes like this: On Monday, someone from SiriusXM was out in a remote part of the course late in the day and saw a couple walking and offered to give them a ride back to the clubhouse on his golf cart. The guy mentions he’s there working for SiriusXM and the gentleman he’s driving mentions he’s a fan of Mad Dog, longtime listener as a New Jersey resident.
When the driver dropped the couple off at the clubhouse, they mentioned their son, Scottie, is playing in the Ryder Cup. The driver then realizes he just drove Scott Scheffler’s parents to the clubhouse.
So he suggests to the Schefflers that they should stop by Mad Dog’s booth on Wednesday to meet him and say hello. Russo then coaxed Mr. Scheffler to put on the headset and come on the show. The result was this fun interview between Dog and Scottie Scheffler’s dad.
"I never asked him again about another shot."
— Mad Dog Sports Radio (@MadDogRadio) September 25, 2025
Scottie Scheffler's father, Scott Scheffler, joined @MadDogUnleashed and revealed how he follows his son's career and why he stopped talking about golf with Scottie.
Hear the full interview: https://t.co/Cdo6lkwdsQ pic.twitter.com/YYOqYO5eiY
5. We saw two very rare things in Major League Baseball Wednesday night.
Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk got thrown out at first base on a ball hit to right field.
Wilyer Abreu... ¡NADIE SE ESPERABA ESTO! 😱 pic.twitter.com/ypY7RrdOkF
— MLB Español (@mlbespanol) September 25, 2025
And Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong scored from second base on a wild pitch.
PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG SCORED FROM SECOND BASE ON A WILD PITCH! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/6Rem2RTvFE
— MLB (@MLB) September 25, 2025
6. If you are attending the Ryder Cup this weekend, make sure you take out a loan if you want to have a few beers.
Maybe the Ryder Cup fans won’t be so rowdy?
— Rick Golfs (@Top100Rick) September 24, 2025
I mean, who can afford to get completely blasted at these prices? 😂😂😂
The fans had to pay $750 for a ticket and now $15.00 for a beer. Truly the people’s Ryder Cup.
The important thing is that the players got a $200,000 bonus… pic.twitter.com/fPDeNNzteu
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Can’t believe I missed this the other day, but the anniversary of Stone Cold giving Vince McMahon the Stunner for the first time should always be celebrated. Gotta love Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler screaming that Austin should go to jail.
9/22/97: "I also appreciate the fact that, hell, you can KISS MY ASS!"
— OVP - Retro Wrestling Podcast (@ovppodcast) September 22, 2025
History is made as Steve Austin stuns Vince McMahon for the first time, during a VERY memorable Raw at MSG. pic.twitter.com/r8iuSFDw0q
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kirk Herbstreit Expresses Frustration With College Football Scheduling.
