Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart is going into the College Football Playoffs one way or the other; however, rival SEC program, Vanderbilt Commodores, who finished No. 14 in the final rankings of the College Football Playoff committee, are in line to barely miss out on the playoffs.
After finishing 10-2 in the regular season, Vanderbilt tried to schedule a 13th game on short notice to impress the College Football Playoff (CFP) committee. Head coach Clark Lea confirmed that efforts were made to arrange, and they even asked their players to be ready if the program manages to schedule this week.
Smart was asked about this last-minute effort from Vanderbilt. He shared his perspective on what teams, who will miss out of the playoffs, might be thinking on the outside.
“Probably depends on what seat you sit in,” he said. “Everybody on the outside looking in wants another game, and people would argue you had plenty of games. Everybody on the inside looking out says, ‘I’m good. I’ll stay right where I’m at. I’m okay. I played well enough.'”
Smart acknowledges the effort made by those outside of the 12-team playoff field. He struck a balanced viewpoint, saying those inside may not want to risk that option.
“I think there are coaches that think that’s a better model because it gives their fan base something to hope for and wish for outside of the 12,” Smart said. “Everybody’s trying to get a piece of the 12. And it’s very elusive, it’s very hard. So, if it gives more people an opportunity, that’s good for some. And there’ll be those that probably would have made it in another year that might lose that wish they didn’t have that opportunity.”
Kirby Smart On CFP Extending Number of Playoffs Spots
Kirby Smart also pondered thoughts on whether extending the playoffs is indeed the way forward. The Bulldogs’ head coach mentioned that even if the CFP manages to do that, it will make things more complicated because of the nature and competitiveness of teams playing each other.
“I think it’s, you know, one of those things that was tossed around early on last year about the possibility of playing within your conference or cross-conference to have some play-in games, which is nothing more than an extension of the playoffs,” Smart added. “And you would play in from that perspective. But we’ll still debate about who’s in those play-in games and who would have the right to play in those games to advance and move on. But there was speculation about that early on.”
Overall, Smart was of the viewpoint that it doesn’t matter the number of spots made to adjust the format. Those outside will always believe that if one more spot were added, they could also be in the hunt for the elusive title. So, it’s an endless discussion for him.
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