3 ways Kirby Smart can eventually surpass Nick Saban as college football’s GOAT
By John Buhler
2. College Football Playoff wins/national championships will carry more gravitas
In time, what Smart does at Georgia in the College Football Playoff era could carry greater gravitas over what Saban did at LSU and Alabama throughout much of the BCS era. Winning two or more playoff games to become a national champion is something Saban never had to navigate at LSU or during the first half of his dynastic run at Alabama. Saban won four BCS national championships.
Not to say that Saban will be discredited for those four national titles, but the three he won at Alabama in 2015, 2017 and 2020 are seen as more impressive in the grand scheme of things. With playoff expansion happening in 2024, Smart may not even need to match Saban’s seven national titles, as him winning two to three more in the expanded format just might do the trick.
Not only will playoff expansion help Smart amass more theoretical wins, but any national title he wins going forward will be even more magnified as such a remarkable accomplishment. If you question if this will diminish what Saban did to some extent, just ask yourself how often you bring up that Alabama claimed six national titles during the previous GOAT Paul “Bear” Bryant’s tenure…
An expanded playoff field would offer up more opportunities for any team to potentially be upset.