The future of the SEC Championship game is in doubt. Georgia's Kirby Smart says he is open to eliminating the conference staple, but only if the College Football Playoff expands further.

This comes after the possibility of an expanded playoff. College football has moved to a 12-team format starting with the 2024 season, and this could lead to teams increasing to 16 or 24.

Kirby Smart told On3 on Thursday that he would be OK if the SEC championship game is eliminated, but it would depend on a few things.

“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.”

No one knows the SEC championship game quite like Kirby Smart. The Georgia Bulldogs head coach has won the title four times (2017, 2022, 2024, 2025). Georgia has played in the SEC championship game in eight of Smart’s 10 seasons. 

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

However, the head coach of the Bulldogs says moving to the SEC championship game should come with something meaningful in return. 

“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,” Smart added. 

“But if we’re going to leave it to where it is now, with 12 teams in the playoff, I’m not for removing the SEC championship game.” 

For all the pride Kirby Smart places on the SEC title game, last season showed just how unforgiving that path can be.

With injuries piling up, neither Georgia nor Alabama made it past the quarterfinals.

What Did the Alabama AD Say About the SEC Championship Game?

In the end, it all unraveled the same way for both powerhouses. The Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide battled through the SEC title path, took key injury hits, and still failed to advance past the quarterfinals.

And in the aftermath, that frustration was hard to hide, with Alabama’s athletic director making it clear the system did not sit well.

AD Greg Byrne weighed in on the SEC championship game while speaking to USA Today. Byrne said that the championship game had “run its course,” and it is time to move on from it and enter an expanded playoff. 

In 2026, there will be no change made to the playoff format, and the number of teams will remain at 12.

The SEC wants 16 teams, and the Big Ten has proposed a 24-team format. So far, the two conferences have yet to agree on a number of expansions.

The Alabama AD called the SEC championship game a “great event,” but said the reality is that it’s going away with an expanded playoff. 

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Written by

Samvruth Raj

Edited by

Aadesh Dhote