Kirby Smart weighs in on potential cancellation of the SEC Championship Game
By Jacob Moss
Published:
With further College Football Playoff expansion possibly around the corner, many prominent figures in the sport have begun to question whether conference championship games are still necessary in the current era.
The SEC, in particular, has seen this debate crop up more and more recently, with many coaches and ADs from around the nation’s top league openly suggesting that the benefits the extra game represents are outweighed by the negatives in the age of the expanded playoff format.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart chimed in on the discussion Thursday when talking to On3’s Chris Low, saying that the SEC may have to seriously consider getting rid of the championship game if the playoff expands past 12 teams.
“Where we are right now with 12 teams, I don’t necessarily agree that it needs to quit being played,” Smart said. “But if it gets to 16 or 24 and we’ve got to move the end of the season up and we’ve got to get everything done by the second week of January, then I’d say it probably has to go.”
Smart is probably more qualified to discuss this matter than anyone else in the conference, as his team has won both SEC title games since the CFP expanded to 12 teams in 2024. The Dawgs earned a first-round bye each time, but it hasn’t helped much, as they have failed to win a single playoff game across both appearances.
If the powers that be intend to expand the playoff once again and push up the end of the season as Smart suggests, eliminating the 34-year-old tradition could become necessary to both protect players and bolster the conference’s chances of winning national titles.
