Kirby Smart talks SEC Championship: ‘Hard to come by’
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No. 1 Georgia (12-0) is set to take on No. 11 LSU (9-3) on Saturday in the SEC Championship.
The Bulldogs will try to avenge a 41-24 loss to Alabama in the 2021 SEC Championship.
Despite the Bulldogs prowess during the Kirby Smart era since 2016, including three playoff wins and a national title during this span, the Dawgs have a 1-3 SEC Championship record.
Smart was asked about the motivation to win this year’s conference title in his weekly press conference on Monday.
“It’s more about checking a box. It’s not about last year’s team or a comparison. It’s about that next step and having an opportunity to put a number on the wall that stays there forever. It’s an SEC Championship. You don’t belittle those. Those are hard to come by. They’re what you do what you do for.
Alabama defeated the Bulldogs 26-23 in overtime in 2018, and LSU handed Georgia a 37-10 loss in Atlanta in 2019.
UGA’s last SEC Championship win came in 2017 with a 28-7 win over Auburn.
There’s such a respect, especially in this part of the country, for the Southeastern Conference, that winning a Southeastern Conference championship is extremely impressive for the quality of football and the number of NFL players that come out of our conference. I think our players take a lot of pride in that.”
The Bulldogs are currently -17 point favorites to beat the Tigers.
