On Saturday, the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs have a key game for their College Football Playoff resume when they host No. 5 Ole Miss. The Bulldogs are 5-1 with an impressive 44-41 win over then-No. 15 Tennessee in overtime on Sept. 13.
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The Dawgs one one-loss game in a 24-21 battle at home against then-No. 17 Alabama on Sept. 27. A win over the Rebels would give Georgia some wiggle room if they dropped a close game to No. 21 Texas on Nov. 15 or No. 12 Georgia Tech on Nov. 28.
The 12-team playoff puts pressure on SEC programs like Georgia to avoid three losses, or else they could be passed over by teams with two losses in other Power 4 conferences, as was seen last season.
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During an appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart argued for expanding the CFP, claiming that fans want more teams in the tournament.
“I would love to see a bigger pool of teams make the playoff, because that’s what all our fanbases want is an opportunity to do that,” Smart said.
Smart believes ratings would be high if the CFP expanded to 30 teams.
“Would they not be if it was 16, or 24, or 30 teams? I think they still would be. I think the ratings would still be higher,” Smart said. “I think you’d have unbelievable playoffs. It’s going to mimic the NFL when we get to having that many teams potentially in the playoffs. So you get better matchups for longer.
“Because these games at the end of the year are going to come down to essentially being play-in games. You’re either in or you’re out.”
Ratings for the national championship between Ohio State and Notre Dame in January declined about 12 percent from the 2023 title game between Michigan and Washington. Still, ratings for the inaugural 12-team playoff were higher than the four-team format.
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