On Thursday, the SEC announced that it will play a 10-game, conference-only schedule and that the season will now begin on September 26, three weeks later than the original start date.
As a result, the SEC Championship Game has also been pushed back to December 19.
Originally, Georgia was slated to start its season on Monday, September 7 in Atlanta vs Virginia. Its SEC schedule was set to begin on September 19 in Tuscaloosa.
What Georgia’s new schedule will look is not yet known. The league said an official schedule will be released “at a later date following approval by the Conference’s athletics directors.”
“This new plan for a football schedule is consistent with the educational goals of our universities to allow for the safe and orderly return to campus of their student populations and to provide a healthy learning environment during these unique circumstances presented by the COVID-19 virus,” Greg Sankey said in the Thursday afternoon release. This new schedule supports the safety measures that are being taken by each of our institutions to ensure the health of our campus communities.”
Additionally, the SEC’s release noted:
Further decisions regarding safety standards related to athletics events, tailgating and other game day activities, including social distancing, face covering and other health measures consistent with CDC, state and local guidelines, will be announced at a later date.
This obviously means Georgia’s annual rivalry game vs Georgia Tech is cancelled. This will be the first time the two programs have not met since 1925. Much of Georgia’s senior class will graduate with an undefeated record vs the Yellow Jackets.
The ACC opted for a 10-game conference schedule plus one non-conference match-up, meaning if the ACC had it their way, ‘Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate’ would be a go this year. The SEC, however, followed the lead of the Pac-12 and Big Ten in shifting to a conference-only schedule this year.
“The 10-game SEC schedule provides us the best opportunity to play football as safely as possible in a Covid environment,” Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said. “It’s disappointing the schedule model does not make it possible to play Georgia Tech; however, we look forward to renewing that rivalry in 2021.”
As for Georgia vs Florida, both athletic directors still anticipate that game remaining in Jacksonville this year.
