Shot:
“I don’t have a preference,” Smart said at SEC Media Days this summer. “Forever, I was a nine-game proponent because it was better for our fan bases. It was better for television. It was better for increasing revenue, which is a huge demand right now on college athletics. So I like the idea of nine. My concern with the idea of nine is, you know, how are we picking the 12 or 14 teams and who’s picking them and what do they value? Because I don’t think we saw value in adding nine more losses to our league last year in terms of the way they pick the teams.”
Chaser:
Georgia always plays Georgia Tech in the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate rivalry and there’s no way Georgia will drop that game. Georgia also has contracts to play Western Kentucky, Louisville, and Tennessee State in 2026. As it is currently situated, Georgia would have 13 games on their 2026 schedule. (emphasis added)
How do you keep a good team down? Just have them play more games than everyone else, amirite?
I’m guessing they’ll drop the Western Kentucky or Tennessee State game, but I could also see losing the Louisville tilt since the schedule is expanding to nine conference games. I would imagine the buyout for dropping that series would be the more expensive option, but given the odds and the schedule, I could completely understand it, as well.
My first thought was to drop Louisville because it would be the toughest of the three, and with another conference game . . . but ??
Oh yeah, Louisville is gone for sure. They’re just arguing about who’s going to pay Louisville for dropping the game.
Who the hell is afraid of Louisville?
Danny Kanell would tell you that the SEC should be afraid of any ACC team. This is not a joke.
I wouldn’t call it afraid. It just might have more of a pulse than the other two options.
Louisville could probably be dropped by mutual consent. A mid tier power 4 matchup is always in demand.
Dropping Louisville solves the “problem” in both ’26 and ’27, so it is the most likely outcome…. God forbid we play semi-meaningful games though….
I agree we probably drop Louisville. But if we do, doesn’t that play into the B1G’s narrative about “SEC scheduling”? I mean, look at Indiana’s tough slate of non-cons.
13 games? Maybe we can play at Auburn twice and get 14 game schedule…
Louisville, fsu and Ohio state will drop off future schedules. Clemson may stay on.
At some point there will be an announcement from the ACC that they are going to 9 conference games as well, so Louisville will “need” to get out of our game too. Wish they’d cancel the cupcakes instead.
However, technically Tennessee State doesn’t even have a date so maybe that was a tentative agreement and there’s no buyout. If that’s the case, there’s your cancelation.
Well Stinky is going to make it harder for the SEC but the B1G has a nice group of patsies for OSU and the cheaters. ND has the best of both worlds an ACC schedule and the greatest love story in college football, ND and the press.
How to boost the second tier B1G and ND at the expense of the greatest collection of football teams in the nation..AKA The SEC…complements of the shadow committee.
Louisville would be a fun road trip for bourbon tasting, and we would bring a ton of fans… do we really need more cupcakes??? Some of the best away games were at venues like Arizona State and Notre Dame. I hated that we dropped the UCLA series as that would have been a great trip also.
A good friend of mine is a Louisville season ticket holdrt and we already have that game on the calendar.
I love that part of the country and I really hope we dont drop them.
As usual, Kirby speaks the truth…….”My concern with the idea of nine is, you know, how are we picking the 12 or 14 teams and who’s picking them and what do they value? Because I don’t think we saw value in adding nine more losses to our league last year in terms of the way they pick the teams.”… THIS is what the CFP is really about.