Kirby Smart explains why he’s ‘certainly for’ College Football Playoff expansion
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Georgia coach Kirby Smart says he’s an advocate of expanding the College Football Playoff, whether it’s from the current 12 teams to 16 or 24.
Smart, appearing at the FWAA Freshman All-American and Steve Spurrier Awards show Monday night, explained why playoff expansion is good for college sports fans.
“I think 24 teams is good for the fan bases,” Smart told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I think when coaches and ADs look at it, we’re looking at our fan bases having an expectation that they want to be in the playoffs — it’s playoffs or bust.”
Smart explained how the college football bowl system that once satisfied fan bases by rewarding teams for good seasons no longer exists.
“They really just want to make the playoffs,” Smart said of college football fans, “and I’m hearing some athletic directors scream and yell that they can be much more financially efficient if their fan base is rewarded with the playoffs.”
Smart, a UGA Terry College of Business graduate and SEC Academic Honor Roll student, explained the economics behind his theory.
“Not even a national championship, but playoff (appearance),” Smart said, explaining what would increase demand amid sports fans, “because they’re going to sell their tickets at a higher rate, raising their ticket prices, selling more beer and popcorn.
“They’re going to be able to do more for their fanbases from the standpoint of the value they can offer.”
Smart said the football success carries through the athletic department.
“Those (football) dollar increases,” Smart said of the athletic department revenue stream, “allows for other sports on campus to survive.”
Smart said that’s why “if we can get more people in the playoffs with 24 or 16 teams, I’m certainly for it.”
Smart, the so-called “Dean of SEC Coaches” now entering his 11th year leading the program, said the inability of the SEC and Big Ten to agree on a 16- or 24-team playoff is indeed challenging.
“Somewhere in there, you are giving out free inventory that maybe hasn’t been earned, maybe watering down the playoffs with more competitive games if you’re at 24 teams (in the playoffs),” Smart said. “But that’s the cost of doing business.”
The inability of the SEC and Big Ten to agree on a format after last season has led to college football sticking with a 12-team playoff, for now.
The Big Ten recently circulated a proposal on what a 24-team playoff would look like, most notably, eliminating conference championship games.
SEC Network analyst Chris Doering said he’s a proponent of the 24-team playoff because of the league’s expanded nine-game conference schedule, which starts next fall.
“We’re involved in cannibalism here in the SEC‚” Doering said. “The top portion of the Big Ten is really good, but the depth of talent is not there like it is in the SEC, and it’s only gonna get worse for the SEC as we move to a nine-game conference-only schedule starting in 2026.
“I actually think it would be better for the SEC,” Doering said of his support for a 24-team field. “With the Big Ten, maybe you get six teams in. … I think you could make an argument that the SEC, in that type of field, gets eight, nine, maybe 10 teams in because of how deep the talent goes in this league that all are capable of winning a game or two (in the playoffs).”
The College Football Playoff format is expected to be a hot topic of conversation at the SEC Spring Meetings in May and, quite likely, at the respective conference media days in July.
Smart has said, dating to August, that he’s a proponent of the College Football Playoff expanding.
About the Author
Mike is in his 10th season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 25 years of CFB experience. Mike is a Heisman Trophy voter and former Football Writers President who was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
