Kirby Smart in Favor of Eliminating the SEC Championship Game

Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart is in favor of eliminating the SEC Championship game.

With the SEC moving to nine conference games this season and the expectation that the college football playoff field will eventually be expanded past 12 teams, a major discussion around the sport is whether or not they should keep conference championship games.

The SEC title game has meant a whole lot to the program over the years. Kirby Smart has won four of them since taking over at Georgia and has competed in a total of eight. The Bulldogs are fresh off of winning two of them in a row.

Coach Smart has expressed in the past how much that game means to him and even went as far as to say he thinks it's bigger than the Super Bowl. However, if the playoff expands past 12 teams, Smart would be in favor of saying goodbye to the prestigious game.

Kirby Smart Says It's Time for the SEC Title Game to Go

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart looks toward the field during the Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff quarterfinals at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Where we are right now with 12 teams, I don’t necessarily agree that it needs to quit being played," Smart said. "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."

It's worth noting that in last year's SEC title game, both Alabama and Georgia were dealing with onslaught of injuries while also preparing to play in the college football playoff. One of the many reasons people think the game should be eliminated from the schedule.

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne even chimed in on the conversation recently, and he too is in favor of the game being no more.

"I think the ship has sailed," Byrne told USA Today. "It's run its course. ... It's a great event. I don't like the idea of it going away, but I think it's reality, with an expanded playoff."

It would appear that the SEC Championship is coming close to being wiped from the football schedule. It's likely that the SEC also isn't the only conference that feels this way about their conference title game.

Another aspect to consider about the SEC Championship game in the expanded playoff schedule is two teams are having to play an extra game while others are sitting home. Those teams are given an extra week of rest while the other teams are having to go play another game, that some would deem meaningless at this point.