Kirby Smart questions how College Football Playoff committee values strength of schedule in rankings

A two-loss Georgia team clocking in at No. 12 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings led to plenty of consternation in Athens and around the SEC. And that includes some for the Bulldogs’ head coach.

And while Kirby Smart isn’t likely losing sleep over it, he said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday that he questions how the CFP selection committee is viewing strength of schedule.

“I don’t know how much the committee values it,” Smart said. “They’re looking, I think, through a sample size of — they’re looking at the game on the TV. They’re not at the stadium, hearing the crowd noise, knowing the atmosphere that you’re playing in. It’s very different when you play on the road in our league, I think compared to some other leagues it’s tougher.”

For the teams in the Top 12 of the College Football Playoff rankings, the Sagarin strength of schedule rankings stack up as follows.

• Georgia — No. 1 strength of schedule
• Alabama — No. 4
• Penn State — No. 33
• BYU — No. 34
• Ole Miss — No. 39
• Oregon — No. 46
• Texas — No. 47
• Tennessee — No. 54
• Miami — No. 56
• Ohio State — No. 58
• Notre Dame — No. 66
• Indiana — No. 76

And given that Georgia has played not just the hardest schedule in the country per some ratings, but also one that is markedly better than all but one other team in the Top 12, Smart wonders what value there is in Georgia playing such a gauntlet if taking losses can hurt the Bulldogs.

“We look at it each week and we say, ‘Alright, where are we? What have we got to do to better it? What have we got to do better?’ That’s one of those things that’s also out of our control so I think the news Tuesday came out and it’s not something that we talk about, but it’s like, ‘OK, well what’s the importance of the schedule, if we play a really tough schedule, is there value in that?’ I think there’s value in that when you win and then when you don’t or you don’t play well, I don’t know.”