Kirby Smart advocates for SEC, strength of schedule in College Football Playoff debate

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart remained a big advocate of strength of schedule, especially in the SEC.

While he made his pitch ahead of the latest College Football Playoff rankings and debate, it rang true as Alabama was deemed the last team in for the penultimate rankings. Georgia, which lost to Alabama this year, is ahead of the Crimson Tide and have a chance at a first round bye if the Bulldogs beat Texas in the SEC Championship Game.

The SEC strength of schedule was on display as Alabama is conceited the last team in based on the current rankings and there was a raging debate between the Crimson Tide, Ole Miss and South Carolina. The arguments seemingly dismissed a 10-2 Miami team.

“Tough question because it boils down to who the best teams are,” Smart said. “I have repeatedly said, I don’t know the objective of the committee. I have openly said that. I mean, if they’re evaluators, they probably need to get some more coaches and call some people that evaluate football for a living, the quality of it, the depth of it, the teams.

“As I understand it, they watch the games. If they’re going to watch the games, you can’t measure one team against another that doesn’t play each other. That makes it hard, first and foremost.”

Smart said there is more nuance to teams and their resumes than just the records. Sure, it’s different when the records are the same, but Smart wanted to make it clear that a 10-2 and 9-3 team could be vastly different.

Heck, Smart essentially made the argument for a 9-3 SEC team over a 10-2 non-SEC team.

“It’s hard to measure across conference,” Smart said. “I think the most telling stats are how the conferences play against each other when they line up and play. It’s a tough judgment, I know that. This is what everybody wanted. The debate goes from 4th, 5th, 6th to 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, who falls in there.

“I don’t think you can measure things just based on how many losses you have because the quality of the schedule you play has to mean something.”

With one week to go, Smart will pivot towards the SEC Championship against Texas and worry about getting a bye. Don’t worry, Georgia is already in, so watch the chaos unfold below them.