Kirby Smart discusses impact of expanded playoff on college football
College football won’t look at all the same during this next season considering all things, including the affects of realignment and the expanded College Football Playoff. Every program will feel those, including Kirby Smart’s down in Athens.
Smart recently spoke about the overall effect of the expanded playoff on the sport. He did so an interview with Paul Finebaum from the Regions Tradition Golf Tournament in Birmingham last week. While it’ll obviously allow more access in the title race, he noted how the moving parts are going to be worth watching, especially come kickoff in the conference title games.
“I think it opens it up to more teams. I think it’s going to make it a big debate at the end with your teams that are playing to play in and teams that might play their way out,” said Smart. “These conference championship games are going to be really critical. There’s going to be teams that are playing that are already in win or lose. There’s going to be a team maybe playing their way in by how they play. It’s going to make it very interesting.”
With that being the case, Smart is expecting some gamesmanship from other contenders. Whether in order to handle the longer year or to give themselves a more favorable spot in the field, he anticipates new approaches based on conversations that he has been a part of.
“Do people start holding people out for byes and home games in the playoffs? It’ll be interesting to see what the 12-team playoff brings about new,” said Smart. “Coaches are already talking about it across the country. Are you going to practice different? It’s going to be a longer season. Are you going to hold back more? How are you going to manage the extra games?”
Georgia dominated what were the final years of the four-team playoff, specifically since 2021. The Bulldogs appeared in the national championship in every season that they made it in. Tua Tagovailoa threw one away from them in overtime during their debut appearance in 2017. However, they’d go on to win consecutive titles in 2021 and 2022. They missed out on berths on two other occasions at No. 5 in 2018 and at No. 6 last season, even though many believed they could’ve completed the three-peat had they made it in in 2023.
Everything about the season, including the postseason, will never look the same starting this year. That means this year’s contenders, with Smart and the ‘Dawgs likely to be among them again, are about to set a precedent in how future teams approach the playoff as it moves forward.