Report: Georgia Wants to Keep In-State Rivalry CFB Game Against Georgia Tech

It's been reported that SEC and ACC programs with in-state rivalries have expressed the desire to keep their non-conference rivalry matchups for the 2020 college football season. Georgia is vying to continue the traditional "Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate"

All 14 Southeastern Conference athletic directors met with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on Monday to discuss scheduling options for fall sports - including college football - in 2020. 

The conclusion of the meeting resulted in the SEC planning another assembly in two weeks. As COVID-19 cases spike across the nation, conferences are fighting to preserve the upcoming football season.  

With the Big Ten and Pac-12 announcing they'll move to a conference-only schedule in 2020, the option has been discussed among the other the Power 5 conferences. Should an only intraleague sports scenario carry over into the ACC, the SEC and the Big 12, Georgia is one of the many SEC programs petitioning to keep their in-state rivalry game according to the AJC. The AJC states Georgia Tech is unison to not disrupt the tradition of "Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate."

“I’ve talked to (Tech athletic director) Todd (Stansbury), and he definitely wants to play it,” Georgia AD Greg McGarity said Monday night as he drove back to Athens from Birmingham. “So does FSU and Florida, Clemson and South Carolina and Kentucky and Louisville. The importance of those intrastate rival games was brought up, and you’re talking about travel within the state. So proximity was a key part of that as well.”

- AJC

The Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs have faced each other 114 times - an annual game that has been played since 1925. Prior to that, Tech and UGA met all but twice from 1897-1916. (The series was suspended from 1917-1925 due to the United State entering World War I). The game has been played in either Athens or Atlanta alternating every year since 1928.

Many questions linger regarding the fate of the fall football season should a conference-only schedule be finalized among Power 5 conferences. What set number of games will there be? Is a home-and-home series between teams the best option? Who faces who? According to the AJC, the depth of discussions were a factor in the SEC scheduling another meeting. 

The SEC, like the ACC, uses an eight-game college football schedule. 

The Jackets' matchup against Georgia is slated for November 28 in Athens. 

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