Kirby Smart was extremely proud of his team after their dominant victory over Alabama in the SEC Championship game. However, for all the good that came out of this game, there was one thing Smart complained about during his postgame press conference.
The SEC is moving to a nine game conference schedule next year to match what the Big Ten has been doing for a few years now. While on the surface it does make sense to match what the other power conference is doing, SEC fans are a little upset because their teams already have to play more difficult schedules as it is.
And after Georgia played their ninth SEC game of the season Saturday night, Smart spoke to why he thinks the SEC made a big mistake by copying the Big Ten's scheduling model.
"Those two teams were beat up tonight," Smart said via 247sports.com. "That was the ninth game of the year. We're looking at next year having another game. I mean, the coaches in our league are concerned about it, very concerned about it. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't speak my piece and say it's concerning."
Kirby Smart doesn’t like the SEC’s 9-game conference schedule
Georgia and Alabama entered Saturday’s SEC Championship game extremely injured. Both teams had multiple starters out and they both also suffered more injuries during the game as well.
Smart is pointing to those injuries as the reason the SEC made a mistake moving to nine game SEC schedules. Just imagine if both teams played their tenth SEC games last night and how many more injuries they would likely have. Not only would this make the championship game less exciting with more star players out, but more injuries would mean both teams would have a more difficult time winning a National Championship in the College Football Playoff.
Unfortunately for Georgia and the rest of the SEC there is no going back. They now have to play nine game conference schedules which will ultimately make winning a national title much more difficult to accomplish.