Also, CBS may have lacked confidence that Vandy and Georgia would both win against Mississippi State and Tennessee respectively. (Vandy is only a two point favorite against MSU).
ESPN will decide between Vanderbilt at Georgia or LSU at South Carolina on Sunday. ESPN's game will kickoff at 8:00 pm, and the Raycom game will kick off at 12:30 PM.
It's my theory that there are competing issues here bigger than who wins and loses on Saturday:
- Mike Adams / UGA Administration - Prefers fewer night games, and would likely have concerns about the logistical implications of hosting pre-scheduled homecoming events later in the day. The logistical considerations are legitimate...until you realize that it's pretty easy to just announce "All Homecoming Events have been postponed until until X o'clock"
- Athens/UGA Police - Extremely against night games in Athens. There has long been thought to be a handshake agreement between UGA and the cops that we'd avoid more than one "true" night game start (meaning post-6:00 pm) per season.
- Mark Richt - Logically, Coach Richt should be completely and totally against a 12:30 pm kickoff against Vanderbilt. Most big time upsets in the SEC happen during those early starts when the home crowd is less "into it." Just ask Tommy Tuberville about this. See also: UGA vs. Vandy '06. If we volunteer for a 12:30 pm kickoff, we're handing over a HUGE piece of our home field advantage. That not only hurts the vibe and tone of the game, it hurts the image we present for recruiting.
- The SEC League Office - The League wants its best games in its best time slots. If UGA and Vandy win this Saturday, that means our game against the Dores would need to be a big night game.
Regardless, Georgia needs to beat Tennessee. Winning would put enormous pressure on UGA to play this game at night. If both UGA and Vandy lose, it's a stone cold lock that we're playing at 12:30.
Just. Win. Baby.
PWD
