Georgia coach Kirby Smart didn’t meet with the media Wednesday, but Smart said in his presentation Tuesday he felt UGA playing Clemson was as valuable as playing a ninth conference game.
“I think us playing Clemson did a lot of things for our conference, improved a lot of things for our conference,” Smart said. “And people take that out of context. They look at it and say, ‘All they want to talk about is the eight- or nine-(game SEC schedule), but who are you playing in the (nonconference) games?’”
Smart said he also felt confident there would be more nonconference games matching teams from power leagues.
“You’re going to see more and more of those games regardless of the SEC (schedule) because that’s what the fan base wants, what TV wants, and that drives revenue,” Smart said. “You’re going to see lots of those opportunities out there.”
Brooks pointed out that Georgia already is aggressive when it comes to scheduling power-conference opponents in nonconference games, entering each season with Georgia Tech on its schedule.
“We do have Florida State and Louisville and other teams lined up,” Brooks said, discussing future home-and-home series on the Bulldogs’ schedule. “All of that fits in that puzzle.
“Would we be open to (playing a Big Ten team in the regular season)? Yeah, but then we’d have to take a look at what it would look like with the rest of our schedule.”
Georgia, as Brooks noted, opened the 2021 and 2024 seasons against Clemson and the 2022 season against Oregon.
The Bulldogs have a lighter slate of nonconference opponents this season with Marshall, Austin Peay, Charlotte and Tech, but a trip to Louisville lands on the 2026 schedule.
Things get even more interesting in 2027. UGA has three power-conference teams on its schedule: an opening game at Florida State, a home game with Louisville and a road game at Tech.
Georgia has Florida State and Tech on its yet-to-be-completed 2028 nonconference schedule and Clemson and Tech in 2029 before Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State is on a loaded 2030 nonconference slate, along with Clemson and Tech.
“To credit to Coach Smart, we’ve always been open to playing a challenging schedule,” Brooks said, “especially those neutral-site games we’ve opened the years with.”
Georgia has had success against Big Ten teams of late in the CFP, beating Ohio State 42-41 in the CFP semifinal in the Peach Bowl in 2022 and blowing out Michigan 34-11 in the 2021 CFP semifinal in the Orange Bowl.
Georgia had a home-and-home series scheduled with Ohio State for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but the games were canceled by the Buckeyes because of a scheduling agreement between the Big Ten and now-defunct Pac-12.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, whose Tigers beat Big Ten school Iowa 27-24 in the Music City Bowl last season and Ohio State 14-3 in the Cotton Bowl the year before, said it’s a matter of competitive spirit.
“It bothers us as competitors,” Drinkwitz told ESPN. “We feel like we’re the best conference in college football, and we want to make sure that the ultimate prize at the end of the year is that national championship trophy.
“We haven’t been able to do that the last two years, and I think we’re all competitive enough (that) that’s often what we’re competing for. I don’t know if two years is a data point yet or a trend. Obviously, we have to take a look and see what we can do better.”
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