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Kirby Smart sounds off on ‘unjust and unfair’ seeding process for 12-team Playoff
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Kirby Smart’s Georgia team is the No. 2 overall seed in the College Football Playoff, meaning that his squad has one of four first-round byes in the bracket.
Despite this, Smart still vented his frustrations with the current makeup of the Playoff, diving into how the automatic byes are awarded and why the seeding of this tournament does not follow the same methods of other major postseason events.
“Seed the field, let the byes fall where they may. To say all these conferences are equal is unjust and unfair. That’s not the case at all. You need to seed it,” Smart said during ESPN’s Selection Show special. “They don’t do that in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, they don’t do that in any tournament I’ve been around.”
Without naming a specific team, Smart is likely pointing toward Boise State and Arizona State getting first-round byes despite finishing No. 9 and No. 16 on the overall CFP rankings. Meanwhile, Texas (No. 3 on the final rankings) and Penn State (No. 4) will be sent to host a first-round Playoff game.
Smart believes that automatic byes and higher seeds should be awarded strictly based on what a team accomplishes during the season and not on what occurs in a conference championship game.
“It makes no sense in terms of guaranteed byes. If someone earns the right to be a seed, they should have an advantage by doing that,” Smart said. “There’s not really a great advantage the way it was done. I think that’s something they’ll have to look at in the future.”
Georgia will take on the winner of the Indiana (10) and Notre Dame (7) matchup in a Sugar Bowl showdown set for New Year’s Day. Track all the action ahead of kickoff with SDS’s College Football Playoff odds.
Current Missouri student entering my third year of covering Tiger football and basketball. Contributor to The Transfer Portal CFB and overall college athletics enthusiast.
