‘The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry’ is one of the most iconic rivalry games in all of college football.
The Georgia-Auburn matchup has been played each season since 1944, but faces challenges with the Southeastern Conference expansion and imminent scheduling changes.
UGA head coach Kirby Smart thinks keeping rivalry games should be an important part of the discussion, but acknowledges the challenges that the SEC faces as Texas and Oklahoma join the conference in 2024.
“It’s going to be tough because there’s so many people that want that historic rivalry, including me. I was part of that rivalry. I grew up as part of that rivalry. I think it’s one of the best there is, but I think it’s one of the costs of progress bringing two more teams in,” Smart said on Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “One of the costs of scheduling, getting more balanced in terms of you’re going to play everybody. It’s not just going to be Georgia-Auburn. It’s going to be somebody else for somebody else.”
Each team would be given three permanent opponents in the proposed nine-game format. This would allow some rivalry games to remain, but if the conference doesn’t approve the extra game, we may lose a few historic games like this.
“Sometimes you call that progress. Sometimes you upset the fans. I think that’s good debate in terms of your traditionalists want those rivalries and others want to see you play the teams they never get to see you play. You can’t have both.”