Joel Klatt calls out Kirby Smart: 'I cannot stand the politicking'

In the week leading up to Georgia‘s 31-17 win over Tennessee, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 12 in the College Football Playoff Rankings. After his team’s win over the Volunteers, UGA head coach Kirby Smart revealed whether he felt like his team was being overlooked.

“I don’t know what they’re looking for. I really don’t,” Smart said of the selection committee. “I wish they could really define the criteria. I wish they could do the eyeball test where they come down here and look at the people we’re playing against and look at them. And you can’t see that stuff on TV. So I don’t know what they look for, but that’s for somebody else to decide. I’m worried about our team.”

The CFP selection committee liked what it saw this past weekend, bumping Georgia up to No. 10 in this week’s edition of the CFP Rankings. Smart seemingly believes that SEC teams should receive extra leeway in CFP consideration due to their difficult conference opponents.

On Wednesday, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt took a bold stance against Smart’s comments.

“Kirby is a great coach,” Klatt said. “In a lot of cases, I would consider him one of, if not the, best coach in college football. This is the Kirby that I least like. I really love almost everything that he does, until we get into this mode. I cannot stand the politicking that happens down there incessantly.

“They rant and rave about, ‘Well, you don’t know what these schedules are like.’ Like, I’m sorry. I just can’t. Georgia should be rated higher than Miami. Maybe the committee is just tired of you whining after the games. That could be it.”

Georgia’s two losses this season have come against quality opponents. In Week 5, the Bulldogs suffered a narrow 41-34 loss to Alabama after freshman Ryan Williams hauled in a game-winning touchdown.

Georgia’s Week 11 loss to Ole Miss wasn’t nearly as close, with the Bulldogs falling 28-10. While Klatt agrees that Georgia should be in the CFP, he isn’t a fan of the way Kirby Smart expressed his discontent with the selection process.

“Georgia’s résumé is outstanding,” Klatt said. “Georgia has a gripe right now, OK? And the gripe is, I understand that they’re 8-2 and they’ve lost two games, but they’ve got probably the best win in the country at Texas. They just beat up Tennessee badly. Their strength of schedule is the toughest in the country.

“They’re 3-2 against the Top 25. I mean, it’s certainly a better résumé than, let’s say, Texas. Certainly a better resume than Penn State or Indiana or Notre Dame, or a lot of teams. OK, so let me argue for you, Kirby, because Georgia is right now in a kind of a precarious spot, not in terms of making the playoff and not making the playoff, but their path in the playoff.”