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Kirby Smart calls out College Football for automatic byes: 'It makes no sense'

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby:Grant Grubbs•12/08/24•

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Kirby Smart Georgia
Nov 9, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart talks with an official during the first half against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

For the first time since its inception in 2014, the College Football Playoff will include 12 teams this season. The four highest-ranked conference champions will receive first-round byes while the other eight teams battle it out to reach the quarterfinals.

After defeating Texas in the SEC Championship on Saturday, Georgia was one of the teams to receive a first-round bye in the Playoff. However, instead of celebrating his team’s extra week of rest during an appearance on ESPN, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart criticized the CFP’s current system for seeding teams.

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“No doubt, seed the field and let the byes fall where they may,” Smart said. “Look, to say that all these conferences are equal is unjust and unfair. That’s not the case at all. So you need to seed it. I mean, they don’t do that in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. They don’t do it in any tournament I’ve been around.

“It makes no sense, in terms of guaranteed buys. So, if one team earns the right to be in a seed, they should have an advantage by doing that. There’s not really a great advantage the way it was done, and I think it’s something I’ll have to look at in the future.”

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The College Football Playoff selection committee’s final top 25 rankings were different than the 12-team bracket since they had to account for conference championships and the current bye system.

For example, Alabama was the No. 11 team in the selection committee’s rankings but missed the Playoff altogether because Clemson had an automatic bid since it was the fifth highest-ranked conference champion.

In reality, Clemson was the No. 16 team in the committee’s rankings. Smart believes the committee should do away with the extraneous rules and regulations for the top four teams and instead simply award byes to the four best programs in the country.

Moreover, he compared the CFP’s system to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. While the NCAA Tournament guarantees conference winners a spot in the bracket, it doesn’t guarantee them a specific seed.

Despite any potential changes in the future, the bracket is set for this season and there won’t be any changes. Georgia will face off against the winner between Notre Dame and Indiana in the CFP quarterfinals.