As soon as the final second ticked off the clock and Alabama won the SEC Championship, the conversation shifted in SEC circles to making the case for Georgia to be among the top four College Football Playoff teams.

Commissioner Greg Sankey referenced it in from the podium at the trophy ceremony, and CBS analysts Gary Danielson and Rick Neuheisel each made the case for two SEC teams. Danielson used the argument of the four “best” teams in college football.

But the most passionate case came from Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who repeatedly said that Alabama coach Nick Saban would not want to play Georgia again.

“It boils down to one thing,” Smart said. “Do you want the four best teams or not? Give the coach on the other sideline a vote for who he doesn’t want to play. I promise you it starts with us.”

“Well, it boils down to one thing. Do you want the four best teams in or not? It’s that simple,” Smart said after the game. “They sat at home last year and got to go in the game while everybody else is beating each other up, and they had a good football team. Give that coach across the sideline a vote who he doesn’t want to play. He’ll start with us. I promise you, you don’t want to play us. It’s not our decision. It’s their decision. But you’re going to put the four best football teams in.”