Kirk Herbstreit names the best team in college football after Week 11

Kirk Herbstreit on the set of ESPN College GameDay | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Following college football's 11th official week of the regular season, a triad of power conference teams remains undefeated. In such order, Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M remain 1-2-3 atop every version of college football rankings that exist. The real debate for guys like Kirk Herbstreit is... which among them is truly No. 1?

Ohio State takes the cake in those polls for de facto purposes — after all, these are the undefeated defending national champions we're talking about. But if you're just theoretically lining any combination of these teams up against one another in a neutral site game, there's a fun debate to be had. On a Monday morning YouTube live stream, Herbstreit and fellow ESPN analyst Joey Galloway got to the bottom of that question.

One fan sent in a question to Herbstreit asking him for his national championship prediction, and in a roundabout answer, he wound up providing his current top five in college football. At the top? You probably guessed. Take a gander anywho:

Kirk Herbstreit's Top 5

1. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0)
2. Indiana Hoosiers (10-0)
3. Texas A&M Aggies (9-0)
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1)
5. Georgia Bulldogs (8-1)

Joey Galloway did make a fair point after Herbstreit put Ohio State at No. 1, commenting that the Buckeyes haven't really racked up a ton of super impressive wins, especially of late, to warrant a definitive top ranking. While Herbstreit acknowledged that Galloway's argument is fair, he did point out some of OSU's wins that have impressed him.

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) celebrates a touchdown with running back CJ Donaldson Jr. (12) | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"At Washington," Herbstreit listed. "I don’t care what anybody says. Anytime you win at Washington, that’s a good win. At Illinois was good. I mean, they blew Illinois out on the road. That's not a bad win. And I think as Penn State has shown, they’re still a physically talented team. They were close at halftime. They ended up pulling away. Those are probably their three wins."

When a win over Penn State, who's winless in the Big Ten, is the biggest bragging point, perhaps there is a point to be made that Ohio State could use some tougher tests, which they will get down the stretch.

"I don’t think any of those make you go, 'Holy cow, look what they’ve done.' But those are three, I think, solid wins. A big one coming up at the end of the year with Michigan. But truly, I think a lot of people are waiting for the Big Ten championship game against Indiana to truly find out on both those teams."

That's what so great in the College Football Playoff era, that we'll get to see all these teams settle their arguments in December.