ATLANTA — There is one debate about the College Football Playoff that has always fired up coaches and fanbases -- is it the best four teams or the four most deserving teams?
At its advent, CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock made it known the criteria focused on the "four best teams" after the college football postseason selection decisions were moving away from the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) -- a computerized system used to determine bowl games between 1998 and 2013.
It was UGA's first loss in two years, the last of which came when the Tide rolled to a 2021 SEC title win over the Dawgs. With that and Hancock's mantra in mind, Kirby Smart took to his postgame press conference at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Saturday afternoon following a close 27-24 loss to Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide and was asked to make his case for UGA being one of the top four teams.
"Bill Hancock said it's not the most deserving. He said simply, it's the best four teams!" Smart said after the game. "So, if you're going to tell me somebody sitting in that committee room and doesn't think that that Georgia team is not one of the best four teams, I don't know if they're in the right profession. Because it's a really good football team. It's a really talented football team. It's a really balanced football team. So, you know, they have to make that decision but it's the best four teams. And that's critical."
A short while later, Smart was asked, "Why are you guys one of the four best teams, do you think?"
Smart talked about his team's resume and highlighted one true fact that could potentially bode well for his team's CFP chances: The No. 1 team on championship week has never fallen out of the top four on CFP selection day.
"I think it's the eye test. I think you look at what we've done this season to go on the road, the places on the road, the teams we've beat -- the teams that are in the top 20 that we were able to beat," Smart said. "And I don't know if this is right or not, but in the CFP era, a team that goes in as one, I don't think it's fallen out of that. And not that history says anything, but when you talk about four best teams, watch the game. You know, go ask NFL talent evaluators, go ask NFL scouts. It's about the best teams and I have no question that it's one of the best four teams. One hundred percent."
We will see if Smart's lobbying was enough to save Georgia's season when the College Football Playoff field is finalized at noon on ESPN Sunday.