Only 12 games are played every season in college football. That may seem like a weird thing to say because everyone knows that, but what if teams started playing more? And no, we aren’t talking about postseason play.
Kirby Smart recently was asked about adding a 13th game to Georgia’s schedule, and it really doesn’t sound like a bad idea. The idea that was floated by him was to play a different team for their spring game instead of playing themselves, and while Smart doesn’t see it happening anytime soon it sounds like he thinks it’s a good idea.
"Yeah, I don't foresee it happening more from a cost basis,” Smart said via 247sports.com. “I mean, every athletic department right now is trying to figure out how they're gonna breathe, how they're gonna pay for, as we look on the screen, gymnastics and women's basketball and equestrian and track and field. How are they gonna fund it and pay for it? And, you know, they're looking for revenue streams, and if that's a new revenue stream, then there's a possibility of it.”
Kirby Smart doesn’t say no to adding a 13th game
Smart sounds like he would love to play a different team for their spring game instead of playing themselves. However, the one thing holding it back is money because doing this would cost both Georgia and their opponent a lot.
Smart however sees a way to make this work. They could use this as a way to generate more revenue by selling tickets, concessions and TV rights. Doing that could cause Georgia to actually profit off this game, and if that’s the case then there isn’t anything really holding this idea back.
Another idea that was mentioned is playing a preseason game in the fall like the NFL. That clearly works just fine in the NFL and could be done in college, but the fear of injury would likely prevent that from happening.
The important thing to note is that Smart didn’t say no to ever playing a 13th game. Clearly there are a lot of details to hash out to make this work, but don’t be surprised to see Georgia try this out down the road and set a new standard across college football.
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