'Extremely Tough' Georgia Coach Kirby Smart Shares Concern With Texas, OU Joining SEC

The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners are going to make the SEC a lot tougher. And Georgia coach Kirby Smart knows it.

Feb 17, 2024; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head football coach Kirby Smart and his wife Mary Beth Smart watch the basketball game between Georgia and the Florida Gators at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners are set to officially join the SEC this summer, and their new conference opponents - including Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs - are not looking forward to it.

And to be fair, its easy to see why. Particularly in the case of the Longhorns.

Texas is entering the new season as an SEC Title and College Football Playoff contender, which not only makes the nation's toughest conference even tougher but immediately puts the rest of the league on notice.

And when asked about the Horns and his team's October matchup in Austin, Smart revealed the challenges that Steve Sarkisian and his program are set to bring to the table.

“It’s extremely tough, the fact that they’re in our conference,” Smart said during the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin. “They’re further away. They’re a powerful football team. They’ve got a great state to recruit in.”

Of course, Oklahoma joining the fold doesn't make things any easier either. Sure, the Sooners might be down relative to where they typically are, but things in Norman with Brent Vebables at the helm are improving much like they were in Austin in Year 2 under Sarkisian.

And Smart believes that has everything to do with those two coaches and their respective staffs and they way they have developed their programs.

“Both their coaching staffs are really good,” Smart said. “Sark and Brent both have SEC experience, with Brent being over in the ACC and playing at Clemson he’s played SEC teams forever. They both know the climate they're jumping into and we think it makes our conference better.”

Even without the Horns and Sooners on the schedule, the SEC was an absolute gaunlet, and the hardest conference title to win in college football.

Now, that gets even harder. And Smart's Bulldogs - as well as the rest of the previous conference powers such as Alabama - are going to feel it.

“Two tremendous programs,” Smart said. “When you add those two in, it makes the scheduling much tougher.”