When it comes to the SEC schedule, Auburn is one of the schools who have taken issue with the hand they’ve been dealt for several years now. Namely, that comes in the final month of the regular season when the Tigers will play the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry against Georgia in mid-November and two weeks later will turn around and take on Alabama in the Iron Bowl.
The issue has become even worse in recent years with Auburn playing either both at home or, as they do in 2018, both on the road.
Well, new athletic director Alan Greene wants to do something about this brutal stretch at the end of the year and, at the very least, move the game against the Bulldogs up on the calendar.
“It doesn’t matter (how spaced out the games are), just not having to play Georgia and Alabama in the last three games of the year — just some breathing room,” Greene said last week, according to AL.com. “I think it’s better for the conference that way as well.”
Both programs are scheduled to play each other in the exact same spot in 2019 but it certainly sounds as though there could be changes in store starting 2020. UGA athletic director Greg McGarity was asked about the topic ahead of the teams meeting on Saturday and confirmed that he is open to the game being moved earlier in the year as long as the Bulldogs’ traditional game with SEC East rival Florida remains put.
“I think the one weekend we are focused on keeping is the Florida weekend due to the NFL dynamic and the plans that people have had,” McGarity told the Augusta Chronicle. “As we’ll see later, they’ll be movement probably to other games. Who thought we’d be opening the (2019) season with Vanderbilt? The main thing is a rivalry will stay in place. We’ll continue to play Auburn on an annual basis for the near future.”
McGarity also seemed to downplay the prospect of moving the UF-UGA game on campus from its current spot in Jacksonville, Florida due to the loss of potentially several million dollars on each side.
That won’t be an issue in moving the game with the Tigers to earlier in the season and such a regular matchup of ranked teams could also avoid what happened last season when the two programs played each other again a few weeks later in Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. The conference office has typically been quiet when it comes to the scheduling front so as not to play favorites, but it sounds as though there could be movement coming soon to the SEC slate with both programs open to changes.