Kirby Smart Says CFB Playoff Expansion Will End SEC Championship Game: 'Has To Go'

With each passing day, it seems more and more likely that the SEC Championship Game is on life support. And in the era of the expanded, and still expanding, College Football Playoff, it's hard to argue against. 

In 2025, the two conference championship games in the Big Ten and SEC were effectively meaningless. The Alabama Crimson Tide got blown out by the Georgia Bulldogs, then made the playoff anyway and didn't drop a single spot in the rankings. Indiana beat Ohio State in a close game in Indianapolis, only for both teams to secure a bye in the first round of the playoff anyway. 

Then, it was just this week that the athletic director for Alabama came out in favor of ending conference championships, saying that it had "run its course" as a necessary end to the season.

Now, we have another one of the most prominent figures in college football, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, making similar comments about the end of the SEC Championship Game.

Kirby Smart, University of Georgia Bulldogs head coach, on stage with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. (Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Kirby Smart Becomes Latest SEC Figure To Push For Ending Championship Games, With A Catch

Smart, whose Georgia teams have won the last two SEC Championship games and three of the last four, told On3.com that he believes if the College Football Playoff does grow to 16 teams, the championship game format should end. 

"…I’d want to know the parameters of it before we did anything," Smart said. "Where we are right now with 12 teams (in the playoff), I don’t necessarily agree that it needs to quit being played. But if it gets to 16 or 24 and we’ve got to move the end of the season up and we’ve got to get everything done by the second week of January, then I’d say it probably has to go.

"The important thing is we need to gain something, meaning we’re playing that weekend in the first round of the playoff when the SEC championship game is normally being played and playing the season out like an NFL playoff system. But if we’re going to leave it where it is now, with 12 teams in the playoff, I’m not for removing the SEC championship game."

Expansion to the playoff is inevitable. The only reason it's not already in place is because the Big Ten and SEC couldn't agree on which format to adopt for this upcoming season. But there’s too much money on the table for everyone involved for it not to happen in the near future. Which, effectively, means Smart would then say we should end the SEC Championship game. 

The end to Georgia's 2025-2026 season also demonstrated how frustrating the current format can be, and why these games have lost some of their meaning in the playoff era. Yes, they beat Alabama and won the SEC, but losing in the second round made that accomplishment feel much less meaningful. Smart did say he doesn't view that as a disappointment, describing winning the conference as the "hardest thing to do in sports." 

"We’ve seen it both ways, but I will never apologize for winning an SEC title," Smart said. "I think it’s the hardest thing to do in sports, winning the dang SEC title in almost any sport, because our conference is so hard. And when we went to 16 teams in our league, it only made it harder."

Clearly, that's not entirely true, because an SEC team didn't reach the National Championship Game for a third straight season, but it's an impressive accomplishment regardless. It's just that it means less and less each year, with minimal upside for those who play in the game. Expanding the playoff would replace the lost income, eliminate the injury risk of an extra game, and allow for the tournament to start earlier in December. Hard to say no to that.