Georgia’s home and non-conference opponents for 2018 are now known.
The new team on the list is Austin Peay. The Governors replace Murray State on the schedule and represent one of four non-conference home games for the Bulldogs. The other three are Middle Tennessee State, UMass, and Georgia Tech.
… Sanford Stadium will only host three SEC games. Those will be against Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Auburn.
I wonder if we’ll be arguing about ten wins being cheap next year. To keep the fan base excited, they’re gonna need a bigger Wifi.
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UPDATE: Eh, it’s all good.
“Having seven home games will be great for our team, community, and fans,” head coach Kirby Smart said in a statement. “A mix of outstanding conference teams, a traditional rival, and out of conference teams we seldom play will make for an attractive season schedule.”
Gee, what’s that liquid running down my leg… rain, you say?
Get The Picture 
That’s pitiful, and yet infinitely better than 2017. There are 3 games in ’18 that are better than the best home game in ’17.
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Giving up my season tickets continues to look like the best decision I’ve made in years.
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I could probably get up for a Miss St game this year or even a Mizzou or USC game, but I know that those games will be @ noon and I can barely care about watching awful football in the blazing heat.
Basically any game that starts @ 3:30 or later can be a fun game. A no game that starts @ noon is really that interesting, especially before mid Oct.
My guess is that we should expect a lot of emails hawking tickets this summer and fall.
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I wonder what the over/under on noon starts for next season is.
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All of them? Is it possible to take the over on all of them?
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Push is best you could do, you might be dead on the number and have no way to win.
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That almost sounds like a metaphor for the Georgia Way, Mac.
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Ouch, some truth there I am afraid.
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Trekking up from East Cobb is a full day event for me regardless of kick-off time. I’m guaranteed to spend at least two hours on the road each way plus however long the game takes. Even for nooners, I’m lucky if I get home by 8PM after grabbing a bite to eat, and for 3:30 kicks it’s Iucky if I’m home by midnight. I’d much rather just sit in the comfort of my home and watch the afternoon / evening slate of games in Section HD than put up with all that. I totally get that people love only following Georgia football, but my interest in CFB is so much wider than just Georgia football that I hate missing out on anything else.
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I can typically go from my seat in the stadium to my couch in about an hour after the game so that isnt really my concern.
TBH the real draw for a UGA game is getting out of the house. If I stay home it is unlikely that I will just be sitting in front of the TV watching football. Yard work, children, errands, and generally life stuff come up when I am at the house with “free time”. If I make plans to go to the game then that time gets blocked out on the calendar.
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Your last sentence sums up my feelings exactly Audit. I wouldn’t even mind getting home at 5 in the morning to see UGA play if no other games were being traded off, but the hassle, and heat of unexciting games added to missing 3-4 more that I would enjoy seeing live in HD every Saturday makes it an easy choice. The stadium atmosphere, fun of tailgating, and seeing the Dawgs were enough to get me there regularly over 20 years ago, but that was when there weren’t a dozen other games to see in HD. Still go for those “exceptional”, must-see games, but those are rare these days. Can pick and choose on StubHub and get better seats too.
I appreciate those who continue to ride this out but feel it is a declining number and will continue to fade as the years move on. I don’t blame it all on TV, UGA decision makers have made it less attractive, and it isn’t just the weak schedule. Once you lose that mo, it will hard to rekindle, imo.
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I guess I’m just not a fan of watching Clemson play Auburn unless I’m waiting for a hole to open up and swallow the fan bases or for a celestial object to vaporize the stadium. I get what I want to know by following the scoreboard on my phone. I follow other games more closely if it impacts Georgia especially later in the season.
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One of the few things modeled from Gainesville instead of Tuscaloosa
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When McGarity was hired as AD, many people were thrilled that we would get away from Evans’ scheduling of home and homes across the country. They thought playing the SEC schedule, GTU, and 3 cupcakes was the optimal path to getting to the BCS. These are now the same damn people bitching that the schedule has too many cupcakes.
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I loved the exotic games during that time…I just wish we had won more of them.
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We lost 2 … at Oklahoma State before the Dex Bryant suspension in 2009 and the Boise State disaster in 2011.
We beat Boise like a drum in 2005, hammered Oklahoma State in 2007, bludgeoned Arizona State in Tempe in 2008, and beat Arizona State in the rain in 2009. McGarity cancelled the Oregon games after arriving in Athens and the Ohio State games after Meyer took the job.
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I have to agree with McCheap cancelling the Oregon series and the Ohio State games.
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McGarity cancelled the Oregon Series. But Ohio State cancelled that series. Can’t stand the AD, but lets give credit where credit belongs. The Buckeyes backed out of that one. They also backed out of the series with Tennessee and Michigan backed out of the Arkansas series. I detest our home scheduling and I firmly believe the absolute minimum any school should schedule is 10 Power 5 teams (or BYU, Boise etc). But the Buckeyes cancelled the one with them.
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Ok – they beat McGarity to the punch – other than the ND series, he’s been very gentle to Kirby on the scheduling front
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Does the loss to Colorado not count any longer? Has the statute of limitations mercifully expired? The only good thing about that game was AJ’s miraculous catch.
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I didn’t consider either Colorado game as “exotic” because both of those Colorado teams were awful.
Your point is taken.
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That wasn’t me. Cupcakes suck. I Never enjoy watching us or anyone else playing the little sisters of the blind. Football games are supposed to be actual contests. So much for the idea that the CFP was going to put a premium on strength of schedule and encourage schools to stop this sort of crap. I am SO glad the Hartman no longer gets any of my money. No way could I actually pay for the privilege to watch this unbelievably sucktacular slate of games. Seven home games and only 3 are SEC? Austin Peay? Middle Tennessee State? UMass? Just scheduling those three ought to be enough to get you fired. How does playing craptastic games like these prepare us to beat Alabama?
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One of the reasons Georgia’s home schedule perennially sucks is that we play our biggest SEC East rival in JAX every year. Instead of playing FU ‘tween the hedges every other year like we do with the SEC East cast of midgets. That one game in Athens every other year would go a long way toward improving the home schedule. Play ’em in JAX when it’s FU’s year to be home team and at Sanford when its UGA’s turn to be home team.
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Amen Mayor, amen.
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I’m sorry, but all of you who continue to renew your season tickets are absolutely nuts (IMO of course). Especially when its so easy to get tickets these days via various UGA message boards, stub hub, or — god forbid —
scalping them on game day. Like the ’17 home schedule, that is a horrid home slate that is filled with mostly nobodies, yet you’re shelling out tons of dough to watch the MTSU’s and Austin freakin’ Peays of the world at the 12 pm time slot. Sounds like fun.
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Here’s the problem though.
My all-in cost last year was about $2,000 for tickets. I gave my UT tickets to family because I thought I was going to be out of town. Plans changed and I bought 4 more on Stubhub . . . for about $900.
$2,000 for 6 games vs. $900 for one. I usually have no trouble selling tickets at a break even (or close) or donating them to charity and taking a deduction on the back end. Plus, every 2-3 years, we seem to have a mega-game where the street value for 4 is pretty close to what I pay for the season (i.e., Alabama in 2015).
It’s not a perfect dollar for dollar comparison by any means, but it’s close enough for me not to lose sleep over it. Still want better opponents though.
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The barebones cost for 4 tickets in 2016 was $2,095. Donation of $250/seat plus $45/ticket x 6 games plus $15 processing fee. The barebones cost of the same 4 tickets in 2017 is $2,415 after the donation and ticket price increases. The TN game tickets were probably the highest price you paid. The other games could be purchased at or below face value including Auburn/GT, which means worst case you’d pay another $900 for the remaining games.
I understand what you mean about break even in 2016, but it becomes a whole lot harder to break even in 2017 and beyond. I also hate the fact more of the big games aren’t being played at home, but rather at a neutral site, which means you pay a huge premium when buying those tickets. This charge is in addition to the season ticket cost ala Florida or UNC.
I can’t fault anyone who wants to keep their season tickets. For me, the breakeven would’ve been anywhere from $4200 (4 tickets) to $7400 (8) in 2017, so I finally decided it just wasn’t worth it to see 2-3 games a year. I can buy them on the open market as needed for far less money. Also, the re-sale market for tickets has fallen dramatically the past 2-3 years and I suspect this will continue. My decision to give up the tickets was purely a business decision, but it could easily go the other way for people when they crunch the numbers.
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The First Word…
We’re very, very excited about the schedule that we’ve put together for 2018. Remember that it’s never too early to make your 2018 donation to the Hartman Fund.
P.S. Ticket cutoff scores to this year’s Florida game may be announced later than usual. If necessary, we’ll post the scores on the will call windows at EverBank Field. Just want to set your expectations for this before the media gets a hold of it.
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The worst part is with a little bit of effort, we could have scheduled a neutral site game against a power 5 team somewhere other than Atlanta and probably made enough to cover lost revenue of an Austin Peay or MTSU.
Did you know UGA has an all-time losing record vs Syracuse? How would you like to open football season with a trip to NYC, play and beat an ACC team at MetLife, maybe take in a Yankees game, and a show? I guess taking care of the fans is way too much to ask.
Enjoy Chicago everybody! (If you are able to get tickets!!!)
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Yeah, NYC would be badass
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If we are going to schedule like this, lets schedule Army. West Point is an awesome place to go. You could enjoy a great time with a fantastic group of young Americans and take in the sights. Spend the weekend in NYC and see the Yanks..or maybe the Braves and Mets. I am sure Army would do a 2 for one deal. Playing a service academy is a cool deal and even though their teams would be outmatched they would fight and scrap like hell. Beats the hell out of this crap we are playing in Athens year after year.
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Totally as an aside, West Point has one of the prettiest campuses in the country and the Hudson River Valley is a great place to visit. Suggest a trip to anyone interested in some history and pretty ride.
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That’s awful. Of course, if we win the SEC championship with only 1 loss, we’ll be in the CFP unless Empty Suit Herbstreit starts in on non-conference schedules.
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Why don’t we just drop out of the SEC and join the Ohio Valley Conference or Patriot League?
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Don’t monkey around with Austin Peay. That could evolve into an interesting trial.
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Dammit! I was going to go there but was monkeying around. Few will see what you did there.
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I was going to say something also but I have evolved past that.
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You better understand the Scopes of the situation.
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Bitch moar…
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How many season tickets you got, snowflake?
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sick burn
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Didn’t know that you posted for season ticket holders only, Bluto. Don’t understand your reply to JHarvey. Wanna clue us in or are you posting only to a particular group?
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Senator, I assume you meant the “snowflake” comment for me. I split 8 tix with a friend of mine. Been donating since 2004.
It honestly does not bother me. Obviously not as bad as it bothers most folks I see posting here. Sure, having a few more night games would be great, but I’d rather see some easy wins on a schedule that is hard enough as is. The incessant whining that I hear lately about the program is just annoying. Far more annoying to me than anything being whined about.
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Fair enough, man. You’ve got the right to bitch about bitching. 😉
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I am tempted to register an account just so that I can click the like buttonf or your, JHarvey.
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Not for nothing, but getting Florida at home every even year would sure make that schedule more appealing, no?
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Nah….gotta have the October golf and dirt-lot, underpass 50 buck tailgating.
“Tradition!11!!” Or something.
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They don’t need Florida in Athens to play one less cupcake.
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I don’t follow. If there are only 7 home games, and 4 have to be SEC games instead of 3, plus Tech, that only leaves 2 openings for cupcakes as opposed to 3, no?
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You don’t have to move the UF game to play one fewer cupcake.
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Sure, but it would force their hand is my point.
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Look, 2018 is the year when UGA is the “home” team in the series with FU. If we were playing home and away with FU that game would be in Athens and the home schedule would be better–admit it. I know the school makes money off playing in JAX but it also keeps a lot of UGA fans from seeing that game, which is what I thought you favored. The truth is playing that game in JAX screws up Georgia’s schedule and you know that as well as anybody. It places the Dawgs at a disadvantage against every other team in the East who get 4 SEC home games when the Dawgs get only 3 SEC home games.
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I’ve attended every game in Jacksonville since 1979, so, in my case, no, having the game in Athens every other season doesn’t make the schedule better. And it isn’t better for South Georgia fans, either.
As for keeping UGA fans from seeing the game, how many would get to see it in the Swamp?
You can keep stomping your feet about it all you want, but nothing’s going to change until it’s more profitable to go home and home, so why bother?
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You are right, the correct answer is no.
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This makes me sick to my stomach. This is starting to become a pattern indicating BM is actively averse to having high profile games at home.
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Let’s go Peay!
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I have no problem with 2 cupcakes a year and do not want to expand the SEC schedule but UGA should face 1 P5 or regular BCS crasher level team a year in other than GT.
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Actually, I do have a problem with cupcakes. It’s fraud. McGarity and Smart want to pretend we have a top level program in Athens yet we continue to play teams below our status. If Georgia has an 11-1 regular season we will definitely hear about it, too, when the “committee” decides who makes the playoff. When VD was HC Georgia often played a team as its opener that wasn’t a winning program but it was at least from a Power 5 conference. Baylor, Cal-Berkley, UVA, Oregon State–those were the caliber teams we started off the season with in those days. Not Austin Peay, or Middle Tennessee State, teams that have no chance in Athens even if the scrubs play. I also remember seeing BYU come to Athens with Steve Young at QB. This really points to the lack of confidence the UGA powers that be have in Kirby and the Georgia football program IMHO. Everybody ought to just stay home for those games and send a message with a TV screen full of empty seats. However the reality is B-M won’t take notice until the season ticket sales take a plunge.
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I’m definitely showing my age, but I also watched us play Pitt one year, and they had this freshman RB named Dorsett who turned out to be pretty good.
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The Pitt game was in the 1976 Sugar Bowl. I believe Mayor and Otto are talking about regular season home game schedules.
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^^THIS. We should schedule more Sugar Bowls.
Oh, wait….
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Nope, in Athens in 1975. Pitt won 19-9. I suffered through every minute of it.
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BTW, Jackie Sherrill was Pitt’s coach in the Sugar Bowl game. Majors was the coach when they played at Sanford. And the Sugar Bowl was played in 1977. It was the 1976 team.
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I stand corrected!
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Well, it’s been firmly established here that 10 wins is meaningless and that any trained monkey can do the same with the talent Georgia has.
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With that schedule, that might be right.
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Expectations could be pretty high for Coach Bobo’s first season, eh?
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Assuming everything goes as I expect it to go this fall, Bobo’s first game as a head coach in Sanford Stadium could very well be when Tennessee visits in 2018.
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thank you Dr. Evil.
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Oh my!
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And Mike Bobo, with his 14-12 record at Colorado State, would be an upgrade because…….why?
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Another angle might be: Schedule these lesser opponents to allow more preparation for the following week’s SEC opponent. Additionally, build depth for this year’s team and for future years as the fans get a glimpse of some of the youth/second teamers. This may result in more wins and even a perfect season. Then, we’d have the opportunity to see top-caliber competition in the SEC Championship game and in two playoff games as we compete for the national title. Just flowing positive thoughts on a slow Tuesday.
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Problem is, if we’ve been playing the likes of Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee State, and UMass any top caliber talent is pretty much hand us our head on a platter. You actually want to get better? You ain’t going to do it consuming cupcakes.
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Cupcakes make one fat and lazy.
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To be fair, Alabama 2018 schedule: Louisville, Arky St., ULL, and The Citadel. The problem is not that BM is doing it, the problem is that all of the top CFP contenders are doing it.
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Agreed, we could schedule equal opponents and perhaps lose 3 games and go to a mid-level bowl game. Others schedule several patsies that are not only guaranteed wins, but allow injuries to heal and allow for greater preparation for upcoming competitive games. Ultimately, they play in the SECCG and play in at least one high-level bowl game, and perhaps two in the playoff series.
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But that 2019 schedule with Kentucky, A&M, Notre Dame, Mizzou and USC will make me glad i stayed in…
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We’re playing Southern Cal, freaking awesome – how come no one told me before now???
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Hopefully, ND won’t decide to cancel the 2019 game once they add Michigan back to their annual schedule in 2018.
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They wont…. even if you hate ND you have to give them credit for scheduling over the years (and they don’t back out of scheduled games).
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Awesome ! Agree 100% ’79…. there is only 1 USC and they are in California. Also there is only one “Carolina” and they are in Chapel Hill. A nobody school with no history trying to latch on to others to try to make them look better.
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Hey, at least there are three good games on the home schedule next year. This year there’s just one.
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Alabama schedules as crappy as anyone. They have played 4 road games against Power 5 conferences since 2000. They opt for one name team at a semi neutral site and then three creampuffs. Other teams are just as bad. In fact, Georgia schedules better against Power 5 than any team in this conference…by a long shot. But just because we should be ashamed doesn’t mean that the others are even more disgraceful. No one has played as many Power 5 opponents in their home stadiums than Georgia (13) and we add two more to that this year when we play ND and GT away.
Still, no excuse for these 3 garbage games. No different than the NFL charging season ticket holders for the exhibition games. Highway robbery.
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This year I bought club level Georgia Southern season tix in the beer garden with parking passes in addition to re-upping my UGA bleacher seat season tix. Spent the exact same amount of money.
I have always maintained that the 3-1/2 ride up 15 and traffic death march into Athens outweighed the 30 minute ride to Statesboro, pleasant tailgate, and superior game experience because GSU-Southern Alabama doesn’t hold a candle to an electric Sanford during a big time SEC game.
I have and will always love my dawgs but if the competition is equal there isn’t much reason to not watch the dawgs on TV from the tailgate in Statesboro unless it’s a big game and stub hub the rest.
Thanks for helping validate that decision, Greg.
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Pretty much all big time schools do this now. Like some of the others, staying at home and watching quality games on HD is very good. Go to Athens when a quality team is involved. Yes, my Dad and I gave up season tickets after 30 plus years. Have not really regretted it. My whining is all the teams do this.
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And, again, this is why I don’t mind missing the spring scrimmage. I can rewatch it at most any home game over the next two seasons. Ugh!
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