Georgia's Kirby Smart Gives Stance on College Football Playoff Expansion, Future of SEC Title Game

Kirby Smart is in favor of expanding the College Football Playoff, even if it means getting rid of one of the biggest games of the year.

The Georgia head coach told On3's Chris Low that he'd be fine with eliminating the SEC championship game if that was necessary for expanding past the 12-team Playoff.

He added that he'd "want to know the parameters" before agreeing to it.

"But I'd want to know the parameters of it before we did anything," Smart said. "Where we are right now with 12 teams (in the playoff), I don't necessarily agree that it needs to quit being played. 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.

"The important thing is we need to gain something, meaning we're playing that weekend in the first round of the playoff when the SEC championship game is normally being played and playing the season out like an NFL playoff system. But if we're going to leave it where it is now, with 12 teams in the playoff, I'm not for removing the SEC championship game."

While the Playoff won't expand beyond 12 teams for the 2026 season, it could be just around the corner. ESPN's Pete Thamel reported in February that the Big Ten has been exploring a 24-team Playoff that would begin "no later" than the 2029 campaign.

If the CFP were to expand to as many as 24 teams, it would almost certainly mean eliminating conference title games to avoid having the season go well into February.