ATLANTA — With commissioner Greg Sankey standing just a few feet during the SEC Championship celebration, Georgia coach Kirby Smart called out the commissioner on Georgia’s road schedule that had the Bulldogs playing games at Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss, in addition to a home game against Tennessee.
“That means rest for a team that Greg Sankey and his staff sent on the road all the year long,” Smart said.
Georgia lost to Alabama and Ole Miss but defeated the Longhorns in Austin 30-15.
In the rematch for the conference championship, the Bulldogs defeated Texas 22-19 in overtime.
The win gives Georgia and extended break, as the Bulldogs should have a first-round bye and a berth in the Sugar Bowl, provided they’re one of the four highest-ranked conference champions.
Georgia was ranked above Arizona State, Boise State and both of Clemson and SMU prior to the weekend.
This was Smart’s third SEC Championship, with the win moving him to 3-4 all-time in the game. In the past, a loss has eliminated Georgia from the College Football Playoff.
“We’re mentally fatigued, but we’re one of the [most] mentally tough teams that we’ve ever coached,” Smart said. “Now I’ve had more physically tough. I’ve had more physically talented, but I don’t know that I’ve ever had a more mentally tough team. They just keep coming and keep coming, and they never say ‘die.’ I have a lot of respect for the leaders in that room because of what they’ve been through, probably the hardest schedule in the history we’ve ever had. And they endured it, they came out on top, and they fought their way through it.”
Smart also detailed the value of conference championship games in the 12-team College Football Playoff era.
“You’re asking the wrong person about that because I have almost the same number of national championships as I do SEC championships,” Smart said. “And I’ve had years I won the SEC that I didn’t win the natty and then years I won the natty that I didn’t win the SEC.
“They’re really hard to come by, and I don’t know. I think it’s gonna be interesting, the direction of college football. I hate to say it, but I didn’t think early in the, like, pregame that the game had the same juice. It didn’t have the same atmosphere that I’ve seen it have before. Now, once the game started, and I don’t know if that’s because more Georgia fans know where to tailgate and they’re hanging out outside ‘cause they’ve been here for seven straight years and they just hang out till the end, but the atmosphere improved. But it wasn’t as electric early, and I think the game made it more electric because it was a great game.
“And the games that have been played in this venue for the conference championship are incredible. For people to devalue that over a playoff, I just don’t see it that way. I value SEC championships. I hold them in high esteem because the work it requires to do that is incredible.”
About the Author
