Sports

Kirby Smart's simple CFP solution could fix the playoff and save Georgia

Dawn of the Dawg · Jul 22, 2026 18:00 · 3 min read

Kirby Smart's simple CFP solution could fix the playoff and save Georgia — Georgia coach Kirby Smart lead the team onto the field to warm up before the start of a NCAA college football game against Ole Miss in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Kirby Smart believes a change to the CFP schedule could fix the Bulldogs’ lack of recent playoff success.

Georgia has found no success in the College Football Playoff since it expanded to 12 teams in 2024. The Bulldogs earned a first round bye both years, but they lost both of their quarterfinal matchups in embarrassing fashion.

Georgia wasn't the only top seed to fall short in the playoff in this new format either. In fact, the top four seeds are 1-7 in the quarterfinals in the expanded playoff.

One explanation for why this has occurred is because the top four seeds have to sit for nearly a month because of their first round bye. Their opponent however doesn't have to wait that long, so they seem more prepared because they haven't been sitting at home for so long.

Kirby Smart believes this is a big problem, and he thinks if they fix the schedule Georgia could immeidately find more success in the playoff.

“So I would love to see -- and I don't make this an excuse -- but I would love to see the flow of the season go like a football, a week to week, maybe a bye week in there, but a continuous thing,” Smart said via si.com. “No sport that I know of shuts down for 25 to 30 days between performances. We have not had our best performances when we needed them most, and I don't want it blame it on that. I would love to see a flow of a season be like, okay, which team is the strongest continually playing and going week to week.”

Fixing the CFP schedule would give Georgia a better chance in the playoff

Smart wasn't willing to blame their playoff struggles on the CFP schedule, but it's hard to not based on all the data available.

Georgia found all of their playoff success before it expanded to 12 teams. Back in the former 4-team format all four teams had to wait about a month before playing their first playoff game, so that evened the playing field in Georgia's favor. They took advantage of this by going 3-0 in the semifinals and winning two national titles.

Georgia however has been punished for earning a bye the last two years, and Smart demands that changes now.

There are a few ways to go about fixing the CFP schedule. The regular season could start earlier to give the playoff more time at the end of the year to squeeze more games in December. They also could get rid of conference championship games to give the playoff more time at the end of the year as well.

The playoff could also expand to 16 teams so no team gets a bye and everyone plays at roughly the same time throughout the entire playoff.

Smart may not care which option they go with, but he wants to see the schedule improve. He doesn't think it's fair to make the higher seeds sit for a month while every other teams gets to stay warm and keep playing a normal football schedule.

It sounds like CFP changes are likely coming soon anyways, so hopefully when this happens they come up with a better structure for their schedule as well.