ATHENS — Kirby Smart is all about giving the fans what they want and doing what’s in the best interest of the players and SEC.

That could be why Smart opened up at the SEC spring meetings last week and pointed out the value of playing strong non-conference competition.

Smart, the second-longest tenured SEC football coach behind Mark Stoops, seemed to tip his hand in favor of an eight-game league schedule as the landscape currently sits.

“I think it’s better for the game to play Clemson, absolutely,” Smart said of Georgia’s 2021 and 2024 season-opening, non-conference opponent.

“I think us playing Clemson did a lot of things for our conference, improved a lot of things for our conference.”

The SEC has been discussing expanding its conference schedule to nine games, which would be in line with the Big Ten.

But some league coaches pushed back at the SEC spring meetings, pointing out that the league’s schedule difficulty has not been taken into consideration enough by past College Football Playoff committees, including last year.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey agreed with that notion.

“Whether people want to agree with it or not, that’s up to them, (but) we can go through the analytics and show the rigor of our schedule is different than anyone else’s, period,” Sankey said at the SEC Spring Meetings in Miramar Beach, Fla.

“We had a learning session in September with the CFP about strength of schedule, and strength of schedule isn’t everything, but it is an important factor.”

Thirteen of the SEC teams ranked within ESPN’s Top 25 in strength of schedule — including Georgia, which was No. 1 --according to the College Football Power Index.

Auburn (33), Missouri (34) and Ole Miss (37) were the only SEC teams with schedule strength outside of the Top 25.

The Big Ten also had nine teams ranked in the Top 25 of the power index, while the ACC had two and Notre Dame represented the other team on the list.

“All they want to talk about is the eight- or nine- (game conference schedule,” Smart said. “But who are you playing in these (non-conference) games?”

Smart candidly admitted he was not a favor of how last year’s CFP rankings came down, with some of the SEC teams with strong schedules excluded.

“I have a hard time seeing Ole Miss, Alabama, and South Carolina not being in the best (12) teams last year, and that, for me, is a big part of the SEC,” Smart said. “People want to say, well, you need to play nine games, you need to play eight games. We don’t really know which one of those is until we know the playoff format.

“But I beg everybody in this room the question, would we have been better off not playing Clemson last year and playing another SEC game to make nine games? How would that have been better for the SEC? How would that have been better for Georgia? I don’t think it would have. I think those teams you play outside your conference verify your strength.”

Sankey said the SEC must decide on its league schedule format beyond the 2025 season relatively soon, but he’d prefer to know if the College Football Playoffs are expanding to 14 teams or 16 teams — 16 is expected — and what the new CFP format will look like.

The two expanded CFP playoff models for a 16-team field most discussed at the SEC Spring Meetings were the “Automatic Qualifier” model and the 5-11 model.

The Automatic Qualifier model pitched would include four teams from the SEC, four teams from the Big Ten, two teams from the ACC, two teams from the Big 12, the highest Group of Five finisher and three at-large selections.

If the SEC were to go to this model, one projected method for selecting the four league teams would be for the first- and second-place teams to play in the league title game, but do so knowing they had already secured the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds from the league.

The other two teams would be determined by a play-in weekend, with the higher ranked team hosting on their respective campus. The No. 3 team would play the No. 6 team, and the No. 4 team would play the No. 5 team.

The 5-11 model — which would be the conference champions from the Power 4 conferences (SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12) along with the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion, and then the next 11 highest ranked teams in the CFP rankings.

The SEC coaches seemed to be leaning toward the 5-11, but there have been objections from the Big Ten — unless the SEC is willing to go to a nine-game schedule.

Sankey said no other leagues have influenced the SEC scheduling model before, and he doesn’t plan on that happening now.

Smart’s comments on the Clemson game were strategic in the sense that he pointed out the value having a quality non-conference opponent can have in lieu of a ninth SEC game.

While non-SEC types have pointed out the league has also scheduled games against less-than-stellar non-conference completion, Smart said he believes there will be a trend toward more difficult and enticing non-conference opponents.

"You’re going to see more and more of those games,” Smart said, “regardless of the SEC, because that’s what the fan base wants, what TV wants and that drives revenue, and you’re going to see lots of those opportunities out there.”

Georgia has set an example with its non-conference games with its past non-league games against Clemson (2021), Oregon (2022), Clemson (2024) and future non-conference games at Louisville (2026), at Florida State and home against Louisville (2027), against Florida State (2028), at Clemson (2029) and against Clemson and Ohio State in 2030.

The Bulldogs also play ACC member Georgia Tech, annually, in a home-and-home series.

The Yellow Jackets have become a more formidable opponent under Coach Brent Key, taking UGA to eight overtimes last season and scoring recent wins over ranked teams like Florida State, Miami and North Carolina.

Smart, who at one point championed the nine-game league schedule so that players would have an opportunity to play in all of the SEC stadiums over the course of their careers, said his thinking now is more in line with that’s best for the college football game, in general.

“I’m not looking at it in a self-preservation mode, which happens a lot in college football,” Smart said. “These (spring league) meetings are that way, conferences are that way.

“I’ve learned from the best in the business that you’re trying to constantly sustain the game and make the game better, and not just do it for what’s best for me or just for self-preservation,’ Smart said, “And I’m not saying anybody is doing that, but I’m saying we got to look at it from that perspective, and that’s hard.”