Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN’s lead college football analyst, didn’t hold back on those who claim he is biased for the SEC.

On the Nonstop podcast with fellow ESPN analyst Joey Galloway, Herbstreit fired back at the perceived SEC bias in a fiery, profanity-laced rant.

Herbstreit staunchly denies his critics who accuse him of SEC bias, saying he has never been told by ESPN to favor any conference, and that he focuses on college football as a whole instead of any conference affiliations.

“These idiots that say, ‘How much do people pay you to say this bulls–?’ F-off,” Herbstreit said.

“We’re talking about the sport. We’re talking about what we care about. I don’t give a s— about the SEC. I give a s— about how are they going to find these 12 teams? How are they going to split these hairs at 11, 12, 13, 14 — it’s fascinating to me.”

Herbstreit insists that he doesn’t care which teams make the 12-team College Football Playoff field, and which conferences they come from. He says that talks about the SEC’s depth and toughness aren’t personal bias, but rather “the reality of the sport.”

“I don’t really care who they put in,” he said. “Put Miami in. I don’t care. I don’t care if you put six Group of 5 teams in. Do whatever you want to do. I’m just saying … everybody recognizes the depth and the challenge of the SEC.

“You can hate that. You can make fun of that. Do whatever the hell you want with that. That’s the reality of the sport. That’s the reality of the world. You can live in a fake world.”

Herbstreit’s name is synonymous with college football, as he’s been a mainstay of ESPN’s coverage for nearly three decades. He has served as an analyst on College GameDay since August 1996, and he has been ESPN and ABC’s lead game analyst since 2006. 

“I get so tired of the bulls—. I just get so f—ing tired,” Herbstreit added. “These people talking about the SEC, ‘How much they pay you?’ Are you kidding me? I’ve been there 30 years.”

Herbstreit and ESPN’s College GameDay crew will travel to Eugene, Oregon on Saturday for the Week 13 matchup between Southern Cal and Oregon. After that, Herbstreit will head to Gainesville, Florida, to call the primetime (7:30 p.m.) game between Tennessee and Florida on ABC.

–Photo courtesy of Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images