Michigan Football to Host Georgia in 2010? It's Possible!

by Maize n Brew Dave on Jul 1, 2009 1:28 PM CDT in Michigan Football Comment 3 comments

Please God, let this come to pass. Kyle. Doug. If this works out, you're tailgating with me. This may pave the way for my long held desire to party under the peach trees in Athens to actually come to fruition.

From Ryan Kartje of the Michigan Daily:

Some sources tell me that the Athletic Department is looking into a home game against the University of Georgia in 2010, one that would also bring the Wolverines to Athens in 2011.

Oh, if only. The Movement has been afoot since 2006, when Kyle first suggested the match up. It has been proclaimed dead. And now it is revived. I am hopeful, even if Kyle isn't.

HT: The Rivalry, Esq.

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Yes, please!

This is a natural matchup between schools with top-tier academics and great university towns. Not to mention, uh, football.

I can live with ND, one MAC game, one FCS game, and one decent automatic-bid BCS opponent. Though I would strongly prefer two MACs (or other non-automatic-bid BCS conference) and no FCS. Screw the BCS. It’s about winning the Big Ten — that’s something that the team can control. Playing better non-conference opponents helps with that.

by Rasmus on Jul 1, 2009 2:58 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Having read the debunkings of this, I'm still with you

I think the key bit of information that makes it likely that the talks are fairly serious is this:

The Bulldogs will play the Ragin’ Cajuns … on Sept. 4, 2010, unless the game is shifted to later in the season to accommodate another opponent, Georgia associate athletics director Arthur Johnson said Monday. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

I don’t know anything about how television money is handed out, but it’s a safe bet that ESPN or any of the others would pay extra to have the inaugural game in the renovated Big House be a major national matchup like Michigan-Georgia. It would be the season opener for both teams, so no problem there. The hype would be unbelievable (Big Ten vs. SEC), which would help both schools’ 2010 recruiting now. The only real impediment is whether Georgia wants to play three non-conference automatic-bid BCS teams in one season. But the return game doesn’t have to be in 2011 (when Georgia has Louisville scheduled at home), so it would be a one-time thing.

I don’t buy the “Bill Martin is afraid to play the SEC” meme, either. Ha-ha, very funny. Start playing UConn and Kansas in hoops and we’ll talk. And the idea the the UGA athletic department is going to give this huge story to some guy sniffing around is absurd, however much they may like him. More likely it would leak the way it may have, indirectly through people who were told to keep their mouth shut but just couldn’t.

by Rasmus on Jul 2, 2009 10:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Serial posting to add that

Georgia plays three non-conference automatic-bid BCS teams in 2009 [Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Georgia Tech]. So it wouldn’t be a first for them. And non-contiguous home-and-away matchups seem to be the rule, rather than the exception, at least when it comes to Georgia in recent years.

I realize it’s still unlikely, but the instant dismissals of the rumor should not have been based on logistics — there’s clearly a spot for a home-and-away, with the game in Athens coming in 2012 or later.

by Rasmus on Jul 2, 2009 4:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs