Kirby Smart explains what he is and isn’t excited about with Playoff expansion
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Kirby Smart is hoping to lead Georgia to its first national championship since 2022 and third in six seasons. The top-ranked Bulldogs play host to No. 22 Mizzou on Saturday.
The 2026 season, of course, will be the last before the College Football Playoff field expands from 12 to 24 teams. Smart, on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” was reminded of University of Georgia president Jere Morehead’s opposition to a 24-team Playoff. But the head coach offered a more diplomatic view, noting that while it’s possible teams outside the top 12 may not be able to compete with those inside it, it could make for some good storylines.
“There’ll be an upset. There’ll be a Cinderella team. I say it all the time. You’ll get the basketball stories of a team that has a really good quarterback and a really good year, and they go upset somebody and play really well,” Kirby Smart said. “We certainly have playoffs in most other NCAA sports. We have, in high school sports, high school football is decided that way. So I’m excited about that part.”
On the flip side of that, the SEC Championship Game is going away, as are all conference championship games.
“I’m not excited about not having an SEC Championship Game. Something that I don’t control, I’ve accepted it, but I think it’s one of the greatest sporting events in the country,” Smart said. “I mean, next to the national championship game, it’s the biggest game of the year. Just look at the numbers, and sometimes it’s bigger than the national championship game, and that’s contributed to our conference and the areas we live in.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
