By Sean Labar
Kirby Smart has turned the Georgia Bulldogs into one of the most dominant teams in college football since taking the program over in 2016.
Smart has an impressive 101-17 record leading the Bulldogs along with two SEC championships and three trips to the College Football Playoff. The Bulldogs have a (5-1) record in the College Football Playoff, with their only loss in the postseason coming to Alabama in 2017, when they fell in the national championship game.
Georgia won back-to-back College Football Playoff championships in 2021 and 2022 — but despite a (13-1) record last season — missed the four-team playoff after losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship.
No matter how you look at it, Georgia has been the class of college football — so as the 2024 regular season winds down — it’s odd to see Kirby Smart’s team with two losses. Now the Bulldogs are in must-win territory for their final three games if they are going to make the 12-team College Football Playoff pool this season.
The first step is to beat a talented Tennessee on Saturday night. The Bulldogs host the No. 6 Volunteers who are (8-1) on the season so far and have played well on both sides of the ball.
Earlier this week, the College Football Playoff committee revealed their rankings following last weekend’s slate of games. And after the loss to Ole Miss, Georgia fell from No. 3 to No. 12. But if the playoff started today, the Bulldogs would be the first team out with Boise State getting the last spot.
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Kirby Smart Complains After Georgia Bulldogs Fall In College Football Playoff Rankings
Smart joined the Pat McAfee show this week and didn’t hold back his displeasure with the committees decision to drop Georgia so low after the loss to Ole Miss.
He was particularly frustrated that the committee doesn’t value strength of schedule as much as other metrics when ranking teams.
“I don’t know how much the committee values it,” Smart said, via On3. “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.”
Smart has a point, as Georgia beat No. 17 Clemson and No. 3 Texas with the Bulldogs’ two losses coming to No. 9 Alabama and No. 10 Ole Miss. Still, the committee is attempting to diversify the field this year, so it’s going to be a tough decision deciding between two-loss teams from the ultra-competitive SEC and one-loss teams from weaker conferences.
Regardless, Georgia has a chance to climb back up in the rankings by beating No. 6 Tennessee on Saturday. If the Bulldogs win that, their path to the playoff is clear. If they lose, the will almost certainly miss out on a chance to compete for another national championship.
