Will the Georgia Bulldogs and Ohio State Buckeyes Cancel Their Future Games?

Will the Georgia Bulldogs and Ohio State Buckeyes cancel their future home and home series?

The expanded playoff has brought some changes to college football and likely will lead to more changes down the road. One thing in particular that has become a bigger conversation is out of conference games. Should teams still be playing them? Do you need to try and beef up your strength of schedule anymore? Some would say no and it has led to some out of conference games being canceled.

This past season, Georgia was supposed to play the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl to start the season. That game was then canceled. Georgia was also supposed to play NC State on a future schedule and matchup was canceled as well. The Bulldogs have a couple more out of conference games set for future schedules, but could those be at risk as well?

In 2030, Georgia is supposed to play Ohio State in Sanford Stadium. The following year Georgia is supposed to travel up to Columbus, Ohio to complete the series.

Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork was asked if he thought those games would end up being played, and here is what he had to say:

Georgia vs Ohio State Not at Risk of Being Canceled

Ohio State coach Ryan Day and Georgia coach Kirby Smart at a Peach Bowl press conference on Friday Dec. 30, 2022 Kirbypeach | Marc Weiszer/Athens Banner-Herald / USA TODAY NETWORK

“I have not heard from my colleagues at those schools that they’re interested in not playing those games, even though they’re going to nine (SEC) games,” Bjork said. “I think they view those high-power matchups – if anything, right now you play them and you win, and then you’re in a great spot.”

Ohio State also has future matchups scheduled against the Alabama Crimson Tide, the first one being in 2027.

It should be noted that SEC teams are required to play at least one non conference power four opponent or Notre Dame on top of playing their ning game conference schedule. For Georgia, that's not a problem as they play Georgia Tech every single season. For a team like Alabama though, they need matchups like Ohio State to meet the requirements every year.

It's so hard to know if future out of conference games will be played nowadays. Things could get even more interesting if they decide to expand the college football playoff past 12 teams. For now, they are staying out, but it only seems inevitable that the playoff field will eventually expand past that.