Some of Kirby Smart’s biggest wins as Georgia’s head coach have come against the Clemson Tigers.

The 2024 season opened with a commanding 34-3 win over Dabo Swinney’s team. Both made the College Football Playoff that season.

In 2021, Georgia emerged victorious in a 10-3 defensive slugfest. That season ended with a national championship for the Bulldogs.

As for when Georgia and Clemson will next meet, that is unknown after the schools agreed to cancel four scheduled games. The two schools were scheduled to play in 2029, 2030, 2032 and 2033.

Smart shared his reaction to the cancellation when speaking on the SEC coaches’ teleconference on Wednesday.

“Look, I would love to play those games,” Smart said. “I think those games are what the fans want. It’s what the players want. It’s what everybody really wants ultimately at the end of the day is to have an opportunity to do those things. But I can promise you all those same people want to make the playoffs as well.”

Smart gave a longer explanation about how the College Football Playoff committee plays a role in games like Georgia-Clemson no longer getting played.

While Georgia and Clemson both got into the College Football Playoff in 2024, it was only because the Tigers won their conference championship game. Had Clemson lost to SMU, Swinney’s team would not have made the 12-team field, in part because of the loss to Georgia.

Just a season ago, Texas missed the College Football Playoff after it had an early-season road loss at Ohio State. The Longhorns also lost on the road to Florida and Georgia in conference play.

“There’s a lot of college football right now that’s questioning the decision-making of committees and different groups in terms of playoff games,” Smart said. “And certainly think that might have something to do with it. I think the easy answer to that is if people feel like the best teams are being included regardless of a win-loss column, it would probably open that up.

“And that’s always been talked about and it’s always been preached about to us, to us meaning SEC coaches, that things are going to be taken into consideration is strength of schedule, strength of opponents, strength of all these things. And then it doesn’t seem like that happens.”

The College Football Playoff is currently weighing whether or not to expand its current field from 12 to possibly 24. The SEC has preferred a 16-team model, in the event that there is expansion.

“A lot of things have got to happen in order to make it where the best teams are invited to the tournament,” Smart said. “And that might be expansion. That might be qualifying who the best are.”

Georgia has made the College Football Playoff in each of the last two seasons and four of the previous five overall.

As for Swinney, he sounded off on the news at his Tuesday press conference.

“I hate it, just because I think it’s great for fans. But I get it. I don’t know how many people play 11 Power four games. We’ve been playing 10 around here forever.”

With both the SEC and ACC expanding their conference schedules, games like Georgia-Clemson have been squeezed out. Georgia has also dropped future games against NC State, Louisville, Clemson and Florida State all within the past year.

Georgia is in the process of scheduling a neutral-site game against Florida State in 2028, with Nashville reportedly being the host site.

When Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks spoke to reporters in May, he did note that all options were on the table with regard to playing games against Clemson. That includes a neutral site game.

The 2021 and 2024 games were both played away from campus. The last time Georgia and Clemson completed a home-and-home came during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Clemson won its home game during the 2013 season, with Georgia returning the favor the following year.

Georgia satisfies the SEC’s schedule criteria to play one Power 4 nonconference foe every season with its annual game against Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs host the Yellow Jackets on Nov. 28 this season.

Georgia takes on Oklahoma this week. The Bulldogs were once upon a time set to play the Sooners in a nonconference home-and-home, but that changed when Oklahoma joined the SEC. The Sooners are led by former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables.