ATHENS — Kirby Smart doesn’t want to think about another loss. The one to Alabama on Saturday was painful enough.
The Georgia coach wants to focus on the road ahead and getting better, starting with Saturday’s game against Kentucky (noon, ABC).
“What’s going to separate teams is how they either fracture or don’t fracture or how their infrastructure is built to sustain losses, and we’re built for this,” Smart said. “Like, we have infrastructure. We have plans. We know the pathway. So, you know, I’m excited to see where this team goes.”
Georgia has been at this junction before, losing to Alabama last season before rebounding to win the SEC and make the College Football Playoff with an 11-2 record.
The Bulldogs were one of three SEC teams to make the playoff a season ago. Three-loss teams Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina were left just outside the CFP, despite the first two teams on that list having wins over the Bulldogs.
Given that parity has seemed only to increase as the transfer portal pulls teams to the middle, it seems to be only a matter of time before there is a three-loss team that has a real case of making the playoff.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, who has a hand in shaping the playoff, made the case when speaking to a group of reporters before the Georgia-Alabama game.
“I could see that, for sure,” Sankey said. “And I think we were pretty close last year. I may have viewed it differently in respect to the committee’s decision, but if you had not pulled a team in from outside the top 12, you would have had a three-loss team.”
Sankey is referring to Clemson’s last-second win over SMU in the ACC championship game. Had SMU found a way to win that game, it would’ve nabbed the league’s automatic qualifying spot as a conference champion.
Instead, that went to the Tigers, and SMU got the final at-large spot at the expense of Alabama.
Alabama played a more difficult schedule than the Mustangs, with wins against Georgia and LSU. But the Crimson Tide also lost to Oklahoma, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
SMU did not have a win over a team ranked in the final CFP rankings, but its lone regular-season loss came against No. 17 BYU.
With the CFP committee making greater concessions to strength of schedule, Sankey believes that should only help a team that has a schedule like Georgia’s.
The Bulldogs have played No. 10 Alabama and No. 15 Tennessee. They have games left against No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 9 Texas and No. 17 Georgia Tech, to go with road trips to Auburn and Mississippi State.
“I think even what you saw with our schedule introduction this week, teams will lose, but they have this ability to accumulate such quality wins, plus the expectation of a quality nonconference opponent,” Sankey said.
While Sankey stumps for the idea of his conference squeezing in as many playoff teams as possible, Georgia hopes to remove the need for politicking.
The first CFP rankings don’t drop until Nov. 4. We’ll have a better idea of how much outside help Georgia and other teams will need by then, even with four games still remaining on the schedule.
Georgia knows one loss to Alabama does not end the season as it might have a decade ago.
The Bulldogs have time to improve their resume and get better as a team.
Starting Saturday against Kentucky.
“I feel like we can take a punch and give a punch back,” defensive lineman Jordan Hall said. “And that’s something that we pride ourself on.
“Our standard here is to never give up, you know what I’m saying? Till the game is over. Sixty minutes or however long it takes is what we say. So till the game’s over, till the season’s over, we’re gonna keep pushing that narrative.”
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