When the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take the field against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Monday night's national championship game, the Irish will be more than an eight-point underdog in the matchup. Ohio State has one of the sport's best rosters,

Aside from the challenges in his personal life, Herbstreit also revealed that his emotional moment stemmed from also being happy for head coach Ryan Day, who just a couple of months ago had fans and analysts calling for him to be fired following the team's loss to Michigan.

During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show following the showdown, Herbstreit elaborated on why he’s all in on Notre Dame moving forward, explaining why he sees the Fighting Irish establishing themselves as a power in the college football world for many years to come.

While Herbstreit does his best to stay objective, there certainly has to be a part of him that is absolutely thrilled about the win. The Centerville, Ohio native played quarterback at Ohio State from 1989-93, while two of his sons Jake and Zak walked on at Ohio State.

ESPN “College GameDay” personality Kirk Herbstreit won’t be making a national championship prediction. The national championship is between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

ESPN broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit felt all the emotions during his postgame debrief with Scott Van Pelt and Chris Fowler after his Ohio State Buckeyes won the College Football Playoff national title.

While recapping the game with Herbstreit and Scott Van Pelt, Fowler made a bold claim that Notre Dame's first possession was the best opening drive he'd ever seen. He acknowledged how solid of a defense the drive came against and how much time it chewed.

When asked about the Buckeyes’ 34-23 win over Notre Dame, the ESPN analyst, who also quarterbacked Ohio State from 1989-93 and has a son currently on the team, became emotional and wiped away tears during the network’s postgame show at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.