Kirby Smart says he still values SEC Championship Game in 12-team Playoff era
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Kirby Smart lost his quarterback and his starting punter in Saturday’s 22-19 win over Texas to claim the SEC championship.
With both participants in the game expected to make the College Football Playoff regardless of the result, the necessity of Saturday’s championship game has been a topic of discussion for months. Is there enough value in playing the game if it means risking a significant injury to a player as important as the starting quarterback? Afterward, Smart was asked for his thoughts on taking an additional 60 minutes of wear and tear while other Playoff-bound teams were at home resting.
“I don’t know what to say about that. I mean, you play football to play the game. You play football to win your conference,” he said. “You’re asking the wrong person about that because I have almost the same number of national championships as I do SEC championships and I’ve had years I won the SEC that I didn’t win the natty and years I won the natty that I didn’t win the SEC.
“They’re really hard to come by.”
The win over Texas gave Georgia its second SEC title in the last 3 years.
This was the fourth consecutive trip to the conference title game for Georgia, which was routinely thwarted by Nick Saban’s Alabama teams.
Smart was also asked before the season about the way conference title games would fit into the new 12-team Playoff era. At SEC Media Days, he said he still places value in winning the SEC. He echoed those same comments on Saturday.
“It’s going to be interesting, the direction of college football. I hate to say it but I didn’t think early in the pregame that the game had the same juice. I didn’t think it had the same atmosphere that I’ve seen it have before. Now, once the game started … the atmosphere improved. But, it wasn’t as electric early and I think the game made it more electric.
“The games that have been played in this venue for the conference championship are incredible so for people to devalue that over a Playoff, I just don’t see it that way. I value SEC championships. I hold them in high esteem because the work it requires to do that is incredible.”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
