I think it's fair to say that Herby is a homer, but he's competent, articulate, and generally delivers a solid performance on broadcast days. I prefer him to Musburger and Mark May, to be sure. That, and if I'm not mistaken, he's a proponent of a plus-one system after seeing his beloved Buckeyes get taken to school twice by SEC teams (soon to be three straight if they make it to the title game and have to play Florida again). Yes he dotes on the Buckeyes every time the chance is presented, but to be honest, they are the most potent team in the northern part of the United States as of right now. I like their chances against SC in a few weeks, and chances are they blow through the Big 10 like a lot of cheap toilet paper.
So I have no problem with Herbstreit, but ESPN in general tends to fawn over only the top 3-4 teams in the nation for hours and hours of broadcast time. I wish they'd spread the wealth a little.