Lane Kiffin questions Kirby Smart's love for SEC title game: "Did he love it when he lost his quarterback?"

Conference championship games might come at the expense of an extended College Football Playoff. Moving to 16 or 24 teams likely means great traditions, such as the SEC Championship, might no longer exist in college football. Not everybody is happy about the idea. Georgia‘s Kirby Smart has routinely discussed how much he enjoys the event.

Naturally, not everybody agrees with him. Lane Kiffin pointed to one specific moment when questioning Smart’s SEC Championship affinity — Carson Beck‘s injury in 2024 vs. Texas. If there had been no game to be played in Atlanta, Beck would have been healthy moving forward.

“He can say he loves the game but did he love it when he lost his quarterback in the game?” Kiffin asked at SEC Media Days.

Beck hurt his elbow just before the two teams walked into the halftime locker room. He wound up missing the remainder of the game (outside of one play), leaving the quarterback duties to Gunner Stockton. Georgia won the game, earned another SEC title, but lost a massive player in its quest to win a national championship.

Georgia wound up getting a bye in the CFP, only to get matched up with Notre Dame in the quarterfinals. Marcus Freeman and the Irish put together quite the performance in New Orleans. A decently sized upset unfolded in front of everyone’s eyes. Stockton got the start at QB for Georgia, not finding all too much success.

In a world where there is no SEC Championship, Beck closes out the regular season with an intense win over Georgia Tech. UGA then goes straight into the College Football Playoff with some momentum and a healthy starting quarterback. Who knows what ends up happening? If nothing else, a point made by Kiffin to maybe show why losing the conference championship games is okay.

Lane Kiffin believes Ole Miss wins national championship if he remains coach

Kiffin is certain about one thing: the Rebels would’ve made the 2026 CFP National Championship game if he was allowed to coach them through the Playoffs. In fact, in a recent interview with USA Today, Kiffin even suggested Pete Golding’s promotion from defensive coordinator to head coach may have negatively impacted Ole Miss’ chances in a 31-27 loss to Miami in the national semifinal.

“[If] Pete Golding is in the press box calling the defense, that team is in the national championship,” Kiffin told USA Today. “I don’t know what happens against Indiana, because the quarterback, (Fernando Mendoza), is so good. We might win it, but we’re definitely in it. We ain’t losing to Miami.”

On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this report