ATLANTA — Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he spent time over the past year surveying other coaches about how best to approach the 12-team College Football Playoff.
A year ago, Ohio State missed its conference championship game, as Georgia could do this year, too, should both Texas A&M and Alabama finish Week 14 with wins. But the Buckeyes got hot and won a national title.
Meanwhile, the four conference champions who all earned first-round byes last season struggled mightily in their first playoff games, with all four top seeds losing.
But that doesn't mean Smart is sold on following that logic for this year's playoff.
«The sweet spot is to win,» Smart said when asked how he hoped the next few weeks would shake out for the Bulldogs. «There is no right decision.… At the end of the day, you have to do what you feel best about. You'll always second-guess it if you lose and you won't if you win.»
Georgia's place in the playoff is all but assured. It's path between Friday's ugly 16-9 win over Georgia Tech and whatever game kicks off the Dawgs' quest for a national championship is frustratingly up in the air.
Georgia, 11-1 overall, finished SEC play 7-1, but its regular-season loss to Alabama means the Dawgs need either a loss by the Tide in the Iron Bowl on Saturday or a loss by Texas A&M on Friday to Texas to clinch an SEC title game berth.
Given Ohio State's success without playing in last year's Big Ten title game, taking next week off might be a preferential option for some coaches, who would prefer to see their team get healthy and avoid added injury risk from an extra game. Not Smart, who has won three SEC titles, including last year.
«You live your life scared of injuries, you know what you get? A very scared team,»
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