UGA Looking to Schedule Michigan in the Future?

Submitted by DGDestroys on

It looks as though the Georgia Athletic Department has started to look towards the midwest for a future home-and-home series, and Michigan is a school that they've preliminarily reached out to. 

Preliminary discussions have taken place with Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State about the prospect of one or more of them scheduling a home-and-home Georgia in the future, UGA athletics director Greg McGarity confirmed to Dawgs247.

None of those four possible opponents mentioned have ever played a game in Sanford Stadium, and only one of them – Michigan – has ever appeared on UGA’s regular season schedule. The Bulldogs have visited Ann Arbor twice in their history, losing 26-0 in 1957 and winning 15-7 in 1965.

Source: Dawgs 247 Writer Gentry Estes

umhannon

December 19th, 2010 at 1:05 PM ^

I sat with Georgia fans at the ASU Georgia game three years ago. They are a great group of fans; I would love to see Michigan play betwixt the hedges.

willywill9

December 19th, 2010 at 6:12 PM ^

Disagree, kind of.  I date a girl who went to GaTech... and well... let's just say UGA fans bark at you... it's really awkward.  That said, it's probably their "Walmart" fans who do that.. i hope.

I'll admit though that Athens is a cool place to watch a game, although Sanford stadium (to me) was a little underwhelming.  The field is alright, but the facilities kind of seem like they need to be renovated.   It's not designed well at all.  (e.g. Concession stand lines block you from navigating to another section.)

UMichinCA

December 19th, 2010 at 1:54 PM ^

Seems the last ten years or so Michigan AD has been hesitant to schedule non-conference games way far in advance, which led to debacles like The Horror, Delaware State, and UMass.

It is good to see Michigan getting on board with some solid scheduling discussions for the future.  Seems that it would be good for recruiting and continued long-term prestige of the program.

Zone Left

December 19th, 2010 at 2:30 PM ^

News like this is why we need to make the Notre Dame series happen every other year.  I'd love to schedule new teams, but I don't know if its realistic for major programs to only schedule seven home games a year.

Zone Left

December 20th, 2010 at 1:01 AM ^

Michigan already loses a home game every other year due to the ND series, which equates to several million dollars in revenue. Big time programs typically need eight home games to fully fund their athletic departments, but a school like Michigan can get away with seven some years because of the Big 10's great TV deal and it's huge stadium.

Better scheduling would rock, but economic realities--and fans demanding lots of wins, make home and homes difficult with a fixed non-conference game each year against ND. What happens when we Lose to ND and Georgia and then lose three games in conference? 7-5 isn't going to cut it at Michigan forever.

NOLA Wolverine

December 19th, 2010 at 2:34 PM ^

Can we please play some real football teams before the Big Ten schedule hits? I mean lighting up Bowling Green was fun and all, but I'd like to start preparing to win some Big Ten titles, and being in a fight early in the year would only aid that cause. UGA wouldn't be bad, and doing a home and home with someone from the Pac 10 would be pretty cool.

DrewandBlue

December 20th, 2010 at 10:17 AM ^

but it just seems we schedule so far out and it is difficult to predict who will be competitive in the 3-5 year future.  Teams in the SEC may have 3 year swings, but the middle tear teams have a difficult time rising to the top and staying there for a long time. 

That said, I do really like the Alabama game on the horizon.  If our team (coach too) stays intact, that game will be highlight city and will do wonders for recruiting. 

Don

December 19th, 2010 at 2:46 PM ^

I'd be all in favor of cutting back ND to once every three or four years. I love good intersectional matchups, and it'd be fantastic to play between the hedges.

mGrowOld

December 19th, 2010 at 2:50 PM ^

Are we forming our own double secret super conference without formally announcing it?  My goodness our schedule in the future is going to something to behold. 

Maybe DB knows a playoff is coming in football and wants us to have the #1 slot in strength of schedule.

ChesterBlue

December 19th, 2010 at 3:00 PM ^

Proud were NOT using the WISKY template. I hate it that Wisconsin plays weak teams prior to the Big Ten goes undefeated and unnoticed. Though they played ASU this year, that seems to be the exception. On the other hand, if ND gets good again..adding teams like Georgia, 'Bama, along with NEB (in the big ten) to MSU,OSU,IOWA, occasionally PSU and Wisc could make for a brutal schedule. Could be tough, but I'd rather win a title the way we did in 97, then to win it on a soft schedule.

Wenham Wolverine

December 19th, 2010 at 3:32 PM ^

UGA would be a great addition to the Michigan schedule.

They've had some rough seasons, but they have a great fan-base and a prestigious tradition.

Plus, it'd be great to make an SEC team come up north. Too bad it couldn't be a late-season game.