Kirby Smart voices huge concerns on future of college football after Georgia won SEC Championship against Texas
Moments after Georgia's 2024 SEC Championship victory, one of the first questions that met Kirby Smart in the Bulldogs' press conference had nothing to do with the game that was just played. It was a question asked solely focused on the idea that the game might not be necessary or fair at all to even […]
Moments after Georgia's 2024 SEC Championship victory, one of the first questions that met Kirby Smart in the Bulldogs' press conference had nothing to do with the game that was just played. It was a question asked solely focused on the idea that the game might not be necessary or fair at all to even ask the best teams to play in this 12-Team College Football Playoff era.
David Ubben of the Athletic asked his very "national" college football focused question without hesitation as he was just looking for fuel for the sad piece he was looking to write about the place of conference championship games in today's game:
"Kirby, how do you feel about the place of conference championship games in the 12-Team College Football Playoff era, and the idea that your team and Texas' team are taking on 60 more minutes of wear and tear while everybody else in the conference is at home?"
It's a question that has echoed around the college football media sphere for a couple years now as we have known this 12-Team College Football Playoff was coming.
Kirby Smart is now the face and voice of college football having won two national championships in the last three years, sitting now again as the reigning SEC champion once again. So, what did the voice of entire sport have to say?
"I don't know what to say about that. You play football to play the game. You play football to win your conference. You're asking the wrong person about that because I have almost the same number of national championships as I do SEC Championships. I've had years I won the SEC Championship that I didn't win the Natty and then years I won the Natty I didn't win the SEC."
It's a bit of a question asked without care for Smart's answer because Ubben knew he wanted to write a piece about how conference championships need to go away.
The truth is, it's incredibly tough to win the SEC. It's really tough to win a national championship. And Smart understands that you play to win your conference and the national championship every year. Both. Not one or the other, because both are worth celebrating. Both are worth working towards.
"They're really hard to come by. It's going to be interesting the direction of college football because I hate to say it early and in the pre-game 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 because it was a great game. And the games that have been played in this venue for the [SEC] 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 of the work it requires to do that is incredible."
It's ultimately unfair to ask a coach to just play the victim about "having to" play more football while others (who weren't good enough) sit at home. It's insane to act like a coach and team should not care about winning their conference championship. It's what they've been tasked with all year long, for several years that's been the ultimate goal. It's what they just won. Let them enjoy it.
To devalue all the hard work that Kirby Smart and Georgia Bulldogs players just put in to be sitting here in victory over the most competitive conference in college football history is just ludicrous.
We may very well be approaching a time where conference championships matter less, or perhaps are even abolished entirely, but we aren't there yet. And for now, Smart and many others are concerned with the direction this sport is going if more and more games are supposed to mean less and less. Every game matters. Playing to win every week matters. People, my fellow media members included, need to quit acting like that isn't the case.
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If you want to see Kirby Smart's full post-game press conference following the win you can check out that video below! Enjoy!
