Who’s up for a trip with the Dogs to Ann Arbor?
A trip to the Big House certainly would be memorable for Dogs fans. (University of Michigan)
Returning from vacation for the short holiday week, I’m greeted by lots of rumors about one or two Bulldogs players likely being academically ineligible for the bowl game (is that why Caleb King was working as the fourth-string tailback in Monday’s practice?) and talk of Greg McGarity possibly scheduling some big-name Midwestern teams down the road.
Since we don’t yet have any official word on the former, let’s talk about the latter.
In a story first reported by the Dawgs247 site, McGarity confirmed that 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 series with Georgia in the future.
“We’d love to do a home-and-home with a Big Ten or Midwestern school that has a rich tradition,” McGarity said. “We’re going to work as hard as we can to make that happen. Hopefully, within the next year, we’ll be able to have something in writing.”
Greg McGarity is looking to add the occasional Midwestern powerhouse to the Dogs' schedule. (University of Georgia)
The report said that while the earliest Georgia could potentially add a two-year series of this caliber would be after an existing home-and-home series with Clemson ends in 2014, McGarity said such high-profile scheduling would likely occur “way down the road.”
This obviously is the kind of exception McGarity alluded to earlier in the season when he first announced he preferred a cupcake-heavy seven-home-game schedule model for the Dogs. As he told the Athens Banner-Herald early in November, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State are the types of nonconference home-and-home series he wants to sign. But, he added, “we’d do that periodically. It’s got to be at the right time and against the right opponent that has the same rich tradition of college football as the University of Georgia.”
As opposed to your Louisvilles, for instance.
None of the four possible opponents mentioned in the Dawgs247 report have ever played a game in Sanford Stadium, and Georgia has only ever played one of them, Michigan, during the regular season, visiting Ann Arbor in 1957 and in 1965, when Vince Dooley’s second team shocked the nation with a 15-7 upset of the mighty Wolverines and what seemed like half the town turned out to greet the returning Dogs at the Athens airport.
That’s a memory that still gives me goosebumps and is one reason I lean toward Michigan as the team I’d most like to see the Dogs add to their schedule. But trips to Columbus, Happy Valley or South Bend would be pretty cool, too.
So what do you think about scheduling home-and-home series that would see the Dogs playing teams like this in the regular season as opposed to bowl games? And which team would you most like to see on Georgia’s schedule?
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193 comments Add your comment
FLA DAWG
December 22nd, 2010
8:06 am
Normally I would really enjoy seeing an annual matchup against a Midwest Powerhouse Team.
But McGarity had better get a winning HC and OC before setting us up for another disaster.
Heck, I’m concerned about The Boise State Game already!
Coastal Dog
December 22nd, 2010
8:12 am
Lo these many years I’ve harped that the only way to be the best is play the best. Dogs love to travel, The Dogs love to recruit the best, All Dogs would love to be in the hunt for championships each year. Ohio State would be perfect. We’re considered to be teams with very similar personalities — until game day lately! Bring it on!
PSU Lion
December 22nd, 2010
8:21 am
I would love to see Penn State between the hedges and then UGA in a “white-out” night game in Happy Valley. Put your bias aside SEC fans, there is nothing like a night game in Happy Valley when the Lions are playing a team like Georgia.
exurbanvisionary
December 22nd, 2010
8:28 am
I cannot stand OSU and would love to see the Dawgs knock them off their smug, sweater vest wearing perch.
On the other hand, a home-and-home that includes a trip to either South Bend or the Big House could make for interesting games.
Uga 68
December 22nd, 2010
8:31 am
Michigan, Penn St, Ohio St, or Notre Dame would all be great! If we do games like this, let’s make it worth our while with traditional powers. Not the Oklahoma St, Colorado, or Louisville’s of the world.
Who’s up for a trip with the Dogs to Ann Arbor? – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)
December 22nd, 2010
8:44 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
ARdawg
December 22nd, 2010
8:58 am
Git’r done. If you want to be the best you have to beat the best and once every 10 years or so one of the Big 11+1 is the best. The chances is the last decades are that it would be OSU. We need more North/South matchups
saban
December 22nd, 2010
9:05 am
Just a new daddy and another beatdown.
We are playing Central Florida in a bowl game. That is the new reality.
The future is dark.
By the way Boise State 50 Georgia 0. Red Panties everwhere with little Grantham Choak dolls singing, “turn out the lights the partys over”
WarEagle
December 22nd, 2010
9:13 am
Psssst, Dawg fans. Michigan and Notre Dame aren’t big-time football programs, anymore.
Pago Pago Dawg
December 22nd, 2010
9:26 am
We all know UT and UF are obnoxious, just wait until you walk into The Big House! It’s one of the most uncomfortable stadiums in the USA.
No leg room and the seats are about 12 inches wide. If you don’t get to your seat before kick-off…..good luck.
The only reason we go…two seats on the end, and then by halftime I’m in the aisle.
ARdawg
December 22nd, 2010
9:28 am
WarEagle
Do you think it is even a remote possibility that next year you Auburn fans will have remove your collective heads from your collective azzes?
Spred too thin
December 22nd, 2010
9:49 am
It would improve recruiting potential for the other schools more than it would the Dawgs…they (everyone) want to knock off a SEC school, we need to think the same way (we need to knock off SEC schools too)…let’s play them for a National Championship.
Whatever
December 22nd, 2010
10:19 am
Let’s see, we couldn’t beat a terrible Colorado team even with A.J. Didn’t beat anyone with a winning record. Not so sure this is a good idea.
OSU would roll the dawgs
December 22nd, 2010
10:23 am
the others woudl be good matchups
Hammock
December 22nd, 2010
10:25 am
Speaking for myself, who actually contributes to the Athletic Department and purchase season tickets, that’s what I want. Please schedule the big traditional teams as mentioned. The fans will go / TV will follow / SEC East title W/L record would not be affected.
I’m less inclined to go see the Dawgs play when Louisana Monroe or Troy State come to Athens vs. the hype you are spreading. I think the same argument could be used for any team that schedules cupcake opponents.
GO Dawgs!
Alabama | MrSEC.com
December 22nd, 2010
10:27 am
[...] mirror.17. For all the talk of Greg McGarity easing the Dawgs’ schedule, the new AD has had preliminary discussions with Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State about locking up a home-and-home series. (He also added Boise State as next season’s [...]
bill
December 22nd, 2010
10:37 am
typical UGA fans talking about 50 or 60 years ago. Why not mention Herschel while your at it? By the way Machigan lost to Albion college in 1905 so I will bet UGA will more likely play Albion than Mighty Michigan
Haystacks Calhoun
December 22nd, 2010
10:37 am
It’s kind of sad to see all the Dawg fans getting so excited about next year (just like the year before, the year before that, etc.). How long is it going to take for UGA fans to realize that UGA is simply no longer relevant in the SEC? In the national picture, UGA isn’t even a blip on the radar, and hasn’t been since the preseason #1 ranking two years ago.
Sit back and be grateful for the six or seven wins you’ll get every year. Coaching genius Mark Richt may take you to 7-5 or even 8-4 occasionally, but someone else will still win the SEC, meaning no BCS bowls and no top 10 final ranking. Most years, UGA will be very lucky to finish in the top 25, and only after a big bowl win over a nobody opponent.
It’s a different world now, and Dawg fans need to adjust their expectations downward to reflect reality.
Unfortunately nothing is going to change until UGA changes its mediocre coaching. That’s where the difference is, and that’s why everyone outside Dawgtard Nation just laughs at Dawg fans getting so excited year after year about what a great recruiting class UGA gets. It doesn’t matter how many blue chip high school players go to UGA, they simply don’t get the coaching they would get at Florida or Alabama, to name two schools whose programs are far ahead of UGA. And that’s not going to change as long as Mark Richt is in Athens.
Get your heads out of the sand and face reality. And mediocrity and irrelevance.
SickandTired
December 22nd, 2010
10:41 am
This is great. I guess if you have to go on the road or play an out of conference opponent that has more that a dozen footballs, it should be against a long and storied program like Michigan so that when you get it handed to you, you can say, hey it’s Michigan. Go Mark Richt!!!!!!
Santa Dawg
December 22nd, 2010
10:42 am
Hope you dawgtards are enjoying Christmas. I’m sorry you’re having to stretch the food stamps and unemployment checks a bit further this year. Maybe some unskilled jobs will turn up for you to get back to work soon.
Contractor
December 22nd, 2010
10:49 am
Sign me up! I was really excited about possibly traveling to Eugene, and checking out how the West Coast sizes up to the Southeast when it comes to Saturdays. I think Ann Arbor would be an amazing experience for any Georgia fan, and most importantly, the players. I believe Georgia needs more high profile matchups as this to let coaches see how well they are coaching players compared to the same teams they play every year. To be the best, you have to beat the best. Not saying Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Ohio State are the very best, but they do snag top recruits and have a history of excellence on their side, as much as I despise all those teams, it would be a great measuring stick. May give Georgia an opportunity to hit full stride early in the year and play the SEC schedule very tough.
Count my family and me in. Never been up North, and I think I can handle a couple days there, as long as my Bulldogs are playing, and some Bulldog faithful are there to aid me in coping with the Yankees.
ray
December 22nd, 2010
11:05 am
yes for sure, and the main reason is those teams are in the same time-zone.
Fort Worth Dawg
December 22nd, 2010
11:39 am
DFW-area folks: UGA women’s basketball tonight against TCU in Fort Worth. 6:30 game with $1 tickets and $1 hot dogs.
Saint Jan Lives in our hearts
December 22nd, 2010
11:44 am
I wonder if any of the books about UGA football include the perspective of someone speaking for the late Jan Kemp? The perspective that “student” athletes like Lindsay Scott were playing years without taking college level courses? That the proudest moment of the football program was earned by players who never earned a single college credit?
Dawgtards love to return to 1980, but their memories are really short when it comes to remembering an earthshaking event that happened a few years later that showed the world what a joke UGA athletes were and what a scam artist their beloved Vince Dooley was (and is). So for all those dawgtards with short memories or who think their athletes are actually taking real courses and trying to graduate, here’s the quote that broke the trial wide open and showed what a slimeball Dooley is:
O. Hale Almand Jr., a lawyer for the defense, offered a justification for the favorable treatment accorded the athletes, citing a hypothetical player. “We may not make a university student out of him,” he told the jury, “but if we can teach him to read and write, maybe he can work at the post office rather than as a garbageman when he gets through with his athletic career.”
Nothing has changed at UGA, they just do a slightly better job of keeping things quiet, but that’s hard to do when 45 of your player-thugs have been arrested, isn’t it?
Sickening, isn’t it.
UGA: WINNER OF THE FULMER CUP AND THE CESSPOOL OF THE SOUTH.
ozzfest
December 22nd, 2010
12:14 pm
JEFF, THERE WERE AT LEAST 12,000 IN BOULDER….AND THE AJC REPORTED 20,000 OR MORE IN TEMPE IN 2008…I GUARANTEE WE WOULD HAVE 25,000 AT ANY OF THOSE ROAD GAMES…EVEN IF WE WERE 0-5 WHEN WE MADE THE TRIP. ONE MORE THING YOU CAN COUNT ON IS THAT NONE OF THOSE SCHOOLS WILL HAVE EVER SEEN THE TICKET DEMAND THAT THEY WILL FACE IF THOSE GAMES ARE SCHEDULED. I WOULD PAY $250+ FOR A SINGLE TICKET ON EBAY…SINCE I KNOW I AM NOT HIGH ENOUGH ON THE FOOD CHAIN WITH MY SEASON TICKETS TO QUALIFY THROUGH UGA.
GET IT DONE, MCGARITY.
WE
December 22nd, 2010
12:24 pm
Tech has just announced that it has set up a home and away series with powerhouse Agnus Scott. Tech will be paid $500k for each game due to the hit AS would take in their strength of schedule……
GT
December 22nd, 2010
12:25 pm
I remember LSU playing Notre Dame in South Bends, the cultural mix was unsurpassed. Southern French Catholic vs. northern Irish Catholic of course all the rest were there too, still either southern or northern being the biggest divider. I don’t think Georgia has that rich cultural flavor to fall back on. I am not as sure they bring as much to the table as we would have ourselves to believe. I would think the Big House would rather see Alabama, or Florida, even Auburn after the run they are having this year. What may bring Georgia is schools like Michigan don’t like losing at home and the Big 10 doesn’t like losing to the SEC. Just about the only real hope they would have of beating one of these SEC teams that has any size cap would be Georgia. I mean what do you have left? Vanderbilt or Kentucky, those would be a little too obvious.
WE
December 22nd, 2010
12:28 pm
@GT
What a dope of a post.
Joe
December 22nd, 2010
1:03 pm
Notre Dame or none at all.
Another moron dawg fan
December 22nd, 2010
3:17 pm
Me and Lulu will take the weekend off at Waffle House and make the trip! Go dawgs!!!
Another moron dawg fan
December 22nd, 2010
3:19 pm
Just checking…isn’t Michigan near Montreal?
UGA FRIEND
December 22nd, 2010
4:00 pm
I would rather see UGA play more non-confeence games with ACC teams such as Virginia Tech, Florida State or Miami. These teams are not cupcakes and would be of more interest due georgaphical proximity. Also, more fans would have the opportunity to trave to away games.
Typical moron dawg
December 22nd, 2010
4:37 pm
I are a moron.
bubber
December 22nd, 2010
4:53 pm
been there. done that.we won. dont go back……..
bubber
December 22nd, 2010
4:58 pm
Enter your comments here
DAWG07
December 22nd, 2010
6:01 pm
Great Idea.
col fot
December 22nd, 2010
8:08 pm
Michigan and Ohio St. will never agree to playing Georgia..for one thing they know they will lose. Georgia went to Ann Arbour in the 60’s and when Dooley was a young head coach and handed the wolverines @sses to them..they haven’t forgotten that. The Big Ten is highley overrated and the whole nation knows that.
Guth
December 22nd, 2010
8:12 pm
Have I mentioned that Mark Richt is a scumbag? He’s no better than the thugs he recruits.
Herschel Talker
December 22nd, 2010
11:22 pm
D A Double U G strikes me as the stupidest human being alive.
Chuck Uga
December 22nd, 2010
11:47 pm
I was hoping we would have played Pitt or Miami, Florida in this year’s bowl game. Instead, we yet another boring matchup. Only Texas A&M last season was interesting to me since the 2003 Sugar Bowl.
SickandTired
December 23rd, 2010
8:44 am
Hey Guth, I see you know the man. I agree completely.
Brucerugby79
December 23rd, 2010
9:47 am
da double uga You make more sense than most on this blog-I agree-to the guy that put down the Michigan win in 65 they had just won the Rose bowl and we had already beaten defending nat champ ALA-(I WAS THERE) there was excitement building-Alabama went on to win title again with one loss -to the flea flicking dogs
38 Yardline Dawg
December 23rd, 2010
11:26 am
I would love to see Notre Dame come calling. I hate those NBC darlings. The Buckeyes would be a nice “battle of the nice guy coaches” matchup as well.