Georgia football 2024 schedule: Breaking down rugged slate for expanded 16-team league
The 2024 Georgia football schedule is officially out for a season of big change for the powerhouse conference.
Goodbye SEC East and SEC West. Hello Texas and Oklahoma in the expanded 16-team league.
So long to the SEC on CBS. The SEC is all in on the ESPN family of networks, including ABC and the SEC Network.
We already knew Georgia’s SEC opponents last summer. Now road games at Texas and Alabama have even more heft since they are playoff teams.
More: UGA football 2024 schedule: Dates set for Georgia Bulldogs slate
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The dates are now nailed down. They were leaked a couple of times ahead of the SEC release Wednesday night with its two-hour show.
Here are five takeaways on the schedule:
A Texas-sized sports weekend for Georgia football
If you haven’t booked a hotel room for Austin, good luck.
Prices are sky-high. Georgia and Texas tangle on Oct. 19, the same weekend when Formula 1 is racing in the city.
“The F1 race is in Austin, Texas,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said on the Paul Finebaum Show the day before the SEC championship game. “What was announced was a coincidental date. … When you think about the cross promotions since ESPN has those broadcast rights, just opportunities to have really special things happen.”
Texas is 12-1 this season entering a playoff semifinal game against Washington.
The Longhorns play rival Oklahoma in the "Red River" game the week before the Georgia game.
The Bulldogs have home games against Auburn and Mississippi State (with new coach Jeff Lebby) in the two weeks before the game at Texas. Mississippi State has an open date before the Georgia game.
Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide go prime time
Georgia-Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Sept. 28 should give ABC monster TV ratings.
The kickoff time and TV network were announced Wednesday morning on “Good Morning America” for the 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Their matchup in the SEC championship game on Dec. 2 drew 17.52 million, the second-highest rated game this season behind 19.07 million for Michigan-Ohio State, according to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic.
Both the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide have an open date before this matchup. Georgia also has an open date before its game with Florida.
Three of Georgia’s first four games are away from Athens, including the season opener against Clemson in Atlanta on Aug. 31. The nonconference games and dates have been long set. It will be the first game for new Tigers offensive line coach Matt Luke who coached for Georgia in 2020 and 2021.
Brock Vandagriff goes from friend to enemy (at least for four quarters)
As Adele would sing, hello from the other side to Brock Vandagriff.
The former Bulldogs backup quarterback and Prince Avenue Christian star is expected to move into a starting role next season at Kentucky.
The Sept. 14 game in Lexington is Georgia’s SEC opener. Kentucky hosts South Carolina a week earlier.
The Bulldogs played at Kentucky on Nov. 19 in 2022 and Oct. 31 in 2020.
This will be earliest date the teams have ever met. The Bulldogs did open the 1942 season against Kentucky on Sept. 19 in Louisville.
Don't forget about the Georgia football trip to Oxford
It won’t be easy for Georgia to keep its road winning streak going into its final game in an opponents’ stadium in 2024. The Bulldogs could carry an 18-game streak into a Nov. 9 game at Ole Miss.
It may be a tricky one coming a week after a rivalry game against Florida in Jacksonville.
Ole Miss was no match for Georgia this past season, but Lane Kiffin is getting back running back Quinshon Judkins and wide receiver Tre Harris and could be getting back quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Georgia is 10-6 all-time in Oxford, but lost 45-14 in its last visit there in 2016. The Rebels were unbeaten at home this season.
Georgia Bulldogs home around the Thanksgiving holiday
Georgia began the 2023 season with four straight home games. It will end the 2024 season with three straight between the hedges against Tennessee, UMass and Georgia Tech.
It’s the first time for three in a row to end the regular season since 2018 with a similar lineup of Auburn, UMass and Georgia Tech.
There’s been some dismay that Georgia has to play Auburn at home on Oct. 5 a week after the Alabama game. Auburn plays Oklahoma on the Plains the week before.
Something else to remember. Auburn hasn’t beaten Georgia in Athens since 2005. That’s eight straight wins for Georgia.
Georgia’s schedule misses out on two teams with the worst records this season: 2-10 Vanderbilt and 4-8 Arkansas and also doesn’t include 5-7 South Carolina.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: UGA football 2024 schedule: Texas, Alabama and the home slate
