Kirby Smart questions nine-game SEC schedule for league's playoff chances

College football is still very much in a state of flux as teams adapt to the new playoff format and conference realignment. Some might also have to adapt to a new schedule, depending on how things shake out in the coming months.

The SEC, for one, is considering potentially adding another conference game.

Already, though, some are beginning to dread the possible outcomes. The SEC is without an unbeaten team just halfway through this regular season, putting the chances of each of the contenders in varying states of jeopardy.

Someone will get left out when the music stops.

“There’s no question, and what’s crazy is the only people you can trust and believe in this business is Vegas,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in an appearance on The Steakhouse on 92.9 The Game. “Because you tell Vegas to do all these teams, there’s no question who would be favored in these games. And I guess that doesn’t matter, because the perception will be every conference will have two or three teams left out that should get in and they’ll include SEC teams in that two or three. But these SEC teams, whoever it ends up being, it could be anybody, because the schedules are just brutal when you look at what’s left, it’s crazy.”

That led Smart, unprompted, to bring up the SEC schedule discussions.

“I mean it makes me wonder about the whole nine-game conversation, because I’m sitting here going, ‘Wait a second, what if we all had nine games? We’d be talking about three- and four-loss teams,'” Smart said. “Because you just add another game, you’re going to play another good team and you’re going to bring about the possibility of teams losing. There’s so much parity in our league right now. It’s closer than it’s ever been.”

While Smart didn’t outright advocate for sticking with an eight-game SEC schedule, he intimated that the league’s playoff chances would take a major hit with a nine-game slate.

Moreover, he looked ahead a little bit to the next few weeks as a preview of what’s to come.

“I don’t think people are going to get it till about two more weeks,” Smart said. “About two more weeks they’re going to look in there and say, ‘Oh, the SEC, they’re just average. They’ve got a bunch of average teams.’ And I promise you nobody wants to step into this eight-game league, because it’s not only the physicality week-in and week-out that wears on you and tears on you, it’s the road games and the atmospheres you go into are sometimes a touchdown advantage because of penalties and crowd noises. It’s just not the same. It means more.

“And I’m not disrespecting any other conferences because I think these other conferences are stronger. I mean, look at the Big Ten now. They’re as strong as they’ve ever been. They’ve got a deep, deep, deep conference with a lot of talent. And all these conferences do. But week-in, week-out, go ask the NFL scouts. They’ll tell you.”