Some of Kirby Smart\u2019s biggest wins as Georgia\u2019s head coach have come against the Clemson Tigers. <\/p>\n
The 2024 season opened with a commanding 34-3 win over Dabo Swinney\u2019s team. Both made the College Football Playoff that season. <\/p>\n
In 2021, Georgia emerged victorious in a 10-3 defensive slugfest. That season ended with a national championship for the Bulldogs. <\/p>\n
As for when Georgia and Clemson will next meet, that is unknown after the schools agreed to cancel four scheduled games. <\/a>The two schools were scheduled to play in 2029, 2030, 2032 and 2033. <\/p>\n Smart shared his reaction to the cancellation when speaking on the SEC coaches\u2019 teleconference on Wednesday. <\/p>\n \u201cLook, I would love to play those games,\u201d Smart said. \u201cI think those games are what the fans want. It\u2019s what the players want. It\u2019s what everybody really wants ultimately at the end of the day is to have an opportunity to do those things. But I can promise you all those same people want to make the playoffs as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Smart gave a longer explanation about how the College Football Playoff committee plays a role in games like Georgia-Clemson no longer getting played. <\/p>\n While Georgia and Clemson both got into the College Football Playoff in 2024, it was only because the Tigers won their conference championship game. Had Clemson lost to SMU, Swinney\u2019s team would not have made the 12-team field, in part because of the loss to Georgia.<\/p>\n Just a season ago, Texas missed the College Football Playoff after it had an early-season road loss at Ohio State. The Longhorns also lost on the road to Florida and Georgia in conference play. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of college football right now that\u2019s questioning the decision-making of committees and different groups in terms of playoff games,\u201d Smart said. \u201cAnd certainly think that might have something to do with it. I think the easy answer to that is if people feel like the best teams are being included regardless of a win-loss column, it would probably open that up. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s always been talked about and it\u2019s always been preached about to us, to us meaning SEC coaches, that things are going to be taken into consideration is strength of schedule, strength of opponents, strength of all these things. And then it doesn\u2019t seem like that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n The College Football Playoff is currently weighing whether or not to expand its current field from 12 to possibly 24. The SEC has preferred a 16-team model, in the event that there is expansion. <\/p>\n \u201cA lot of things have got to happen in order to make it where the best teams are invited to the tournament,\u201d Smart said. \u201cAnd that might be expansion. That might be qualifying who the best are.\u201d<\/p>\n Georgia has made the College Football Playoff in each of the last two seasons and four of the previous five overall. <\/p>\n As for Swinney, he sounded off on the news at his Tuesday press conference. <\/p>\n \u201cI hate it, just because I think it\u2019s great for fans. But I get it. I don\u2019t know how many people play 11 Power four games. We\u2019ve been playing 10 around here forever.\u201d<\/p>\n With both the SEC and ACC expanding their conference schedules, games like Georgia-Clemson have been squeezed out. Georgia has also dropped future games against<\/a> NC State, Louisville, Clemson and Florida State all within the past year. <\/p>\n