Georgia Bulldogs fan reacts to end of SEC championship game

by Steven Glover

THUNDERBOLT, Ga. (WTOC) - The SEC football championship game is coming to an end, and a Georgia Bulldogs fan has mixed feelings about the changes ahead.

The Southeastern Conference announced Monday that this year’s championship game will be its last. The decision comes as the College Football Playoff prepares to expand from 12 to 24 teams next season.

Mike Scott, a Bulldogs fan at Coaches Corner, said he sees a benefit to eliminating the extra conference game before the national playoffs.

“I think it’s a good thing because we murder ourselves in the SEC by playing each other and getting kicked out of the national championship,” Scott said.

Scott said SEC teams face a demanding conference schedule and compared the physical toll of playing another tough opponent to going through a car wreck. In his view, teams in some other conferences face less demanding competition and can enter the postseason healthier.

But while he supports ending the SEC title game, Scott is less enthusiastic about expanding the playoff.

“I don’t particularly like it. I understand it,” Scott said. He called the expansion “a money-grab invitational.”

The new playoff format will give the Power Four conference champions automatic spots. The top eight seeds will receive first-round byes, and the first two rounds will be played on campus, according to the Associated Press.

The first 24-team national championship game is scheduled for Jan. 24, 2028, in New Orleans. Scott said he hopes college football leaders keep players and their education in mind as the sport changes.

“Our kids are going to be playing football into February almost, I think, if that’s the way I read it right,” Scott said. “At the end of the day, I mean, I know it’s about money, but they need to focus on the kids.”

The final SEC football championship game is scheduled for Dec. 5 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It will be the 35th edition of the game, which began in 1992.

Atlanta’s Georgia Dome hosted the SEC championship for 23 consecutive years, from 1994 through 2016. The game moved to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2017.