Kirby Smart out here talking about expanding the playoffs and a nine-game SEC schedule like it's some kind of progressive step forward for the sport. I watched that ESPN clip this morning and it just made me think about the old Southwest Conference days when we had ten teams and a round-robin schedule that actually meant something. You knew every single Saturday was going to be a war because you couldn't hide from anybody. Texas, Texas A&M, SMU, Houston, TCU, Baylor, Rice, Texas Tech. We played them all every single year and by November you knew exactly who was the best team in the league.
Now they want to expand the playoffs to 76 teams or whatever ridiculous number they're floating around and add another conference game on top of it. Back when Coach Holtz had us in the Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma in the 78 season we didn't need to play 13 games to prove we belonged. You won your conference and you went to a bowl game and that was that. Nobody was crying about getting left out because the system was simple and honest.
This nine-game SEC schedule nonsense is just going to mean more wear and tear on these kids who are already treating college like a free agency period anyway. We got North Alabama coming to Fayetteville this fall and I guarantee you half our roster won't even be the same guys who finish the season because the portal window keeps shifting around like the wind. They just eliminated the spring window starting this year and that's the smartest thing the NCAA has done in a decade but it's too little too late.
Kirby can sit there and talk about being in support of changes all he wants but Georgia has been loading up with five-stars and portal transfers for years now. Of course he wants more games and more chances to show off that depth. Meanwhile we're over here trying to rebuild a program the old fashioned way and the goalposts keep moving every single season. I miss the days when the only thing that mattered was what you did between the hash marks from September through November and you settled the whole thing on New Year's Day in Dallas or New Orleans.
The SEC was perfect with 12 teams and two divisions. You knew who your rivals were and you played them every year. Now we got Texas and Oklahoma in the league and they're talking about going to nine conference games and I just shake my head. Nothing stays the same and not all change is progress. Some of it is just noise.