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Kirby Smart reacts to Texas making SEC Championship Game in first year in league

On3 imageby:Dan Morrison•12/05/24•

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Kirby Smart
Head coach Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs before taking the field at Texas (Tony Walsh / UGA Sports Communications)

The Texas Longhorns had an excellent first regular season in the SEC, making it to the conference championship game in their first season. For Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart, it wasn’t a surprise to see them make it where they did.

During the press conference ahead of the SEC Championship Game, Smart was asked if he was surprised to see the success the Longhorns had in their first season in the league.

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“You’re asking if I’m surprised by them being in the game,” Kirby Smart asked.

The Longhorns finished the regular season with an 11-1 record overall and a 7-1 record in conference play. They were clearly ready for the SEC and, in the end, their only loss came at the hands of Smart’s Bulldogs. So, this is a team Smart saw firsthand and knows they earned their place in the SEC Championship Game.

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“They earned it,” Smart said. “They played an SEC schedule. They won the most games of any SEC team this year. They’re a tremendous program. They’re built that way. They’re built to do that. They’ve got a tremendous amount of talent, and they’ve done a great job building to that, recruiting to that, that fanbase, that team. And they’ve done a great job of that.”

Going into the final week of the season, Texas had not yet clinched its own spot in the SEC Championship. The Longhorns needed to beat rival Texas A&M in a hostile environment to get to this game. They were able to do exactly that, too, on the back of a great defensive effort.

At this point, both teams are expected to be heading to the College Football Playoff, regardless of whether they win or lose. What is bound to change is the seeding. Despite that, Smart still sees a lot of value in winning an SEC Championship.

“It depends on who you ask. When you ask a guy that’s been in the SEC for about 30 years, has only been a part of five or six of ’em, five or six national championships, it’s equal to that to me ’cause it’s just as hard, it’s just as elusive. It has been for us,” Smart said.

“It’s an extreme honor to, number one, make this game with the schedule that you have to go through. Then with an opportunity to win it, I mean, we put the years of SEC Championship on a wall and it’s there forever. There’s not that many more of those than there are national championships. It’s hard to attain. So I still find value in it.”

Georgia and Texas will face off for the SEC Championship Game at 4:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, December 7th.