Over the last five years Georgia has been the most successful program in all of college football. No one can compete with their three SEC Championships and two national titles, but what if they could've had even more success during this five-year stretch?
Paul Finebaum recently sat down to discuss Georgia football, and he said it was a "travesty" that they didn't get a chance to compete in the College Football Playoff in 2023.
Georgia's 2023 team deserved a chance at a National Championship
Back in 2023 Georgia was fresh off winning back-to-back National Championships. After a perfect 12-0 regular season they were in position to go for a three-peat, but they fell short to Alabama in the SEC Championship game which ultimately kept them out of the four-team playoff.
The fact that they were left out of the playoff was the travesty Finebaum is referring to. How could the committee leave out the back-to-back champions who just went 12-0 in the regular season for a third year in a row? Sure the Bulldogs lost to Alabama, but they only lost by three points so punishing them like that doesn't seem right.
Unfortunately all it took was that narrow defeat for the committee to drop Georgia five spots all the way to No. 6 in the final rankings to keep them out of the playoff.
Had the playoff expanded to 12 teams already Georgia may have made a run to yet another National Championship. Instead Georgia will have to wonder how different things could've been if they were given a shot to win a third national title in a row that year.
CFP expansion my have cost Georgia even more championships
Georgia would've loved to have a 12-team playoff during the 2023 season, but the expanded playoff has been bad for Georgia these last two years.
Georgia finished the last two seasons inside the top four of the final playoff rankings, so they didn't need an expanded playoff to make it into the field. Unfortunately for them the playoff already expanded to 12 teams which allowed Notre Dame and Ole Miss who would've never made the playoff field in the past to upset the Bulldogs.
Kirby Smart exposed coaches who are using playoff expansion for their benefit
Could Georgia have won a championship the last two years if the playoff never expanded? They would've had a good shot because in 2024 they had a flawed Oregon team standing in their way along with an Indiana team in 2025 that barely beat Miami in the championship game this past season.
Instead Georgia has to live in a reality where they haven't won a playoff game in three years. If things would've played out a little differently though there is a scenario where Georgia could've won more national titles over the last few years.
That reality though will never exist, so it is up to Smart to figure out a way to be successful in the 12-team playoff today and in future playoffs after the field likely expands again.
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