DESTIN, Fla. — As the college football landscape shifts to more conference games on a team’s schedule, the art of a non-conference schedule is getting lost.
Teams are canceling some series or have elected to move campus home-and-home series to neutral sites. That includes the University of Georgia.
UGA recently agreed with Florida State to canceled home games in Athens and Tallahassee in favor of a neutral site game in a city that hasn’t been decided yet. The Bulldogs already have games scheduled with Clemson, Notre Dame and Oregon, too.
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Head coach Kirby Smart says he’s more concerned about keeping those quality opponents than where the games are played.
“I don’t really care if it’s neutral side or home and home,” Smart said during SEC spring meetings on Tuesday. “I just hate that I feel like we’re all gravitating away from these because of appearance to the committee.”
Smart also doesn’t want to see the SEC Championship Game go away, citing concerns about the revenue generated for the conference.
“I grew up watching it. I’ve talked about it many times, almost a nauseam," Smart said. ““But I’m really more worried about the financial burden that we’re under right now of paying for all of the athletic department.”
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