It was recently announced that Georgia’s future home-and-home series with Florida State was being canceled and would be replaced by a one-off meeting at a neutral site in 2028.
I thought the fan reaction to this news was interesting.
A lot of fans were upset about it. They argued that the cancellation was another in a series of things that have been taken from college football fans in recent years. But is that really true?
Georgia and Florida State not playing a home-and-home series can’t be seen as a casualty of the modern age given that the two programs haven’t met in a regular season game in my lifetime.
Furthermore, while the originally scheduled series is going away, it’s probably unfair to say that anything has been taken from us. What’s probably more accurate is that a trade was made.
The possibility of more major non-conference games was basically swapped for additional SEC games when the SEC expanded to a nine-game conference schedule.
It’s reasonable to want more games against non-conference opponents than SEC foes, but I’m not sure more games against the likes of Florida State are actually better than matchups against LSU or Texas A&M or any other SEC team that UGA has rarely played in recent years.
Plus, for those who want to see the Bulldogs play FSU, they’ll still get their wish — if only at a neutral site.
Check out the rest of our coverage below.
Trivia time
What is Georgia football’s record against Florida State?
Answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.
Florida State AD lists 7 possible venues for 2028 games against Georgia
It seems Georgia and Florida State will still end up playing each other after previously canceling a home-and-home series.
According to Brett McMurphy of On3, Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said that the two sides will play in 2028.
Alford also shared that seven cities are vying to host the game. Those cities are Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando and Tampa.
Georgia has not yet confirmed that there will be a game played during the 2028 season, though it had previously expressed its hopes that it would play a neutral-site game that season.
Georgia is scheduled to play a neutral-site game in Jacksonville, Florida, during the 2028 season when it takes on Florida. The series will shift to Atlanta this year before being played in Tampa, Florida, next season.
UGA athletics weeky schedule
Thursday, May 14
- Baseball at Auburn, 8 p.m.
Friday, May 15
- Women’s tennis vs. NC State (NCAA Championships), 4 p.m.
- Softball vs. Charleston (Athens Regional), 7 p.m.
- Baseball at Auburn, 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 16
- Softball vs. Clemson or UNC Greensboro (Athens Regional), TBA
- Baseball at Auburn, 3 p.m.
Florida State series latest example of ‘fallout’ from 9-game SEC slate
The Georgia-Florida State home-and-home series was originally announced in May of 2022. Georgia had won just one national championship at that point. The College Football Playoff still had four teams and the SEC still had divisions.
Four years later, the series was called off. It’s the fourth marquee home-and-home series Georgia has called off in the previous two years. Florida State joins UCLA, Louisville and NC State among the teams that Georgia has called off a home-and-home with since July of 2024.
“Georgia and Florida State have mutually agreed it is in the best interest of both schools to cancel our home-and-home series scheduled for 2027 and 2028, with the focus shifting to a future neutral site contest between the two programs,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. “While we are still early in the process regarding neutral site plans, we remain optimistic and look forward to further conversations with Florida State.”
The Florida State cancellation comes after both the SEC and ACC moved to nine conference games. With Georgia and Florida State having annual rivalry games against Power Four foes, there is much less of an appetite to play an 11th game against a Power Four opponent.
Photo of the day
Quote of the day
Brooks on Georgia and Florida State canceling their home-and-home
“Georgia and Florida State have mutually agreed it is in the best interest of both schools to cancel our home-and-home series scheduled for 2027 and 2028, with the focus shifting to a future neutral site contest between the two programs. While we are still early in the process regarding neutral site plans, we remain optimistic and look forward to further conversations with Florida State.”
Ranking the 7 potential neutral sites for 2028 Georgia-Florida State game
Georgia and Florida State appear to be honoring their word in that they will end up playing each other.
According to McMurphy of On3, Alford has said Georgia and Florida State will play at a neutral site game in 2028.
While Georgia has not yet commented on the news, Alford also revealed that there are seven possible neutral venues they are eyeing for the game.
Those venues are Atlanta, Nashville, Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Charlotte and New Orleans.
With the exception of Orlando, Georgia has some history — or a future game — with all of the possible venues.
In the link below, we rank the possible venues from Georgia’s perspective as to where the game could be played.
Trivia answer
7-4-1
