Smart on How Important Clemson vs. UGA Is for Each Team’s CFP Hopes

How important is the highly anticipated Aflac Kickoff Game matchup between No. 14 Clemson and No. 1 Georgia, for both teams, in terms of making the inaugural 12-team playoff field this season?

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart touched on that topic while answering questions leading up to the Aflac Kickoff Game — the highest-ranked Week 1 matchup, which is set for Saturday, Aug. 31 in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium (12 p.m., ABC).

“Well, it’s going to be a feather in the cap of someone,” Smart said. “Whoever wins the game is going to be going into that playoff committee talk with a strength of schedule, a major win. Because both teams are going to have good seasons after that. So, I think it’s critical.”

However, Smart can’t say the game is more critical than it would have been in the four-team College Football Playoff era.

“Because obviously with four teams, not winning this game could put you out,” he said. “Now with 12 teams, I don’t know that losing this game… I think it makes these games more popular. They’re going to happen more often, because people are going to be more willing to play out-of-conference, top-notch opponents with a 12-team playoff.”

The 12-team playoff format is set for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The field will feature the five highest-ranked conference champions, plus the next seven highest-ranked teams, as determined by the CFP Selection Committee.

The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and receive first-round byes, with the fifth highest-ranked conference champion being seeded where it was ranked, or at No. 12 if its final ranking lands outside of the top 12.

Clemson (9-4, 4-4 ACC in 2023) hopes to return to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2020 following six straight playoff appearances from 2015-20.

After missing the playoff last year, Georgia (13-1, 8-1 SEC in 2023) is looking to get back in the playoff this season and win what would be the program’s third national championship in four years, following back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022.

With Clemson’s national titles in 2016 and 2018, the Aflac Kickoff Game features two programs that have accounted for four of the last eight national championships.

The Bulldogs are currently a 13.5-point favorite over the Tigers going into the Aflac Kickoff Game.

–Photo courtesy Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

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