Kirby Smart Says Georgia Deserves to Make College Football Playoff: ‘It’s the Four Best Teams’

After Georgia's loss to Alabama in the SEC championship Saturday, head coach Kirby Smart was the latest leader of men to make his plea for a college football playoff spot.

Georgia has won the last two national championships, and have been ranked No. 1 for what seems like forever. Then, the Bulldogs lost to one-loss Alabama for the SEC title on Saturday night.

"It's not the most deserving," Smart said of the CFP criteria in Saturday's postgame press conference.

"Simply, it's the best four teams. So, if you're going to tell me there's somebody sitting in that committee room that doesn't think that that Georgia team isn't one of the best four teams, I don't know if they're in the right profession."

If this were 2024, Smart wouldn't have to make an argument for his squad being a playoff team as the CFP will feature 12 teams. But it's 2023, which means there are still just four spots available in the CFP.

Currently, Washington is an undefeated conference champion, Texas and Alabama are one-loss conference champions — Texas defeated Alabama in Tuscaloosa in September — and both Michigan and Florida State have chances to leave Saturday as undefeated conference champions.

Ahead of Saturday's game as the possibility loomed of the SEC having a one-loss champion, commissioner Greg Sankey reiterated his belief that the SEC is the best conference in the country. With that being the case, he doesn't believe his conference's champion should be left out of the CFP.

Sankey mentioned how five of the top 15 teams in the CFP rankings come from the SEC to boost his argument.

"Let's go back to like, Sesame Street, so we're really basic," Sankey said on ESPN's College GameDay. "One of these things is not like the other, and that's the Southeastern Conference."

Georgia went through a gauntlet in the SEC with ranked wins against Kentucky, Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee after playing a lackluster non conference schedule.

Since its inception in 2014, the CFP has only featured teams from the same conference three times, and two of those times featured Alabama and Georgia.

At noon Sunday, the country will find out if Georgia and Alabama can share a CFP appearance for a third time.