UGA travels to Sun Devil Stadium in '08
Everyone else seems to be talking about 2007. So we decided to just jump right past all that and give you a look at the 2008 scheduling news across the Southeastern Conference.
A survey of NationalChamps.net (and other internet sources) reveals these quality match-ups involving SEC teams*: (Source: NationalChamps.net)
- 1. West Virginia at Auburn - Pat White and Noel Devine descend on the Plains. Steve Slaton will likely be in the pros, but he'll also be eligible if he returns. WVU will be eager to prove that their 1st quarter performance vs. UGA was no fluke.
Looking for wins in all the wrong places
2. Miami at Florida - A renewal of an old bloodbath. The Gators have lost the last six meetings dating back to 1985. Actually, UF has lost seven of the last eight and 11 of the past 14 in five different cities (Miami, Gainesville, Tampa, Atlanta and New Orleans). (See "The Great Gator Flop" for some history)
- 3. Tennessee at UCLA - A quality inter-sectional match-up. This is the first time the two teams have played since Manning's senior year.
4. Arkansas at Texas - Another classic old rivalry returns. The road team split the last two games in the series. The Hogs also picked up a win in the 2000 Cotton Bowl.
5. Georgia at Arizona State - The Bulldogs leave the Southeast for the first time since 1965.
6. NC State at Tennessee - This game could vault up the rankings if Tom O'Brien's squad has an unexpectedly impressive '07 campaign. (Update: This series was postponed (see comments section). At one point, NC State and South Carolina were looking at a series in '08/'09. If anyone has an update on those talks, please post 'em in the comments.
That's an awfully big gun for just shooting bees
7. Mississippi State at Georgia Tech - GT and MSU are charter members of the SEC, but they have only played each other twice, and only once since the SEC was formed. Bobby Dodd refused to play in Starkville, and MSU voted to keep GT out of the SEC when they reapplied in the early 70s. After losing 13 of 16 games to Georgia, Tech is eager to beat ANY kind of Bulldog.
8. Ole Miss at Wake Forest - Honestly, I have nothing to say about this game. If I added the traditional non-conference SEC games to the list, this obviously wouldn't make the Top 10.
9. Vandy at Wake Forest - I have even less to say about this.
(*) I didn't rank the obvious traditional non-conference games like Clemson vs. SC, UGA vs. GT, UK vs. Louisville or UF vs. FSU.
PWD
8 comments:
FYI: the Tennessee-NC State game has been moved (or potentially cancelled). Instead, Tennessee goes to UCLA in 2008 as their marquee out-of-conference match-up.
As an aside, that starts a ridiculous @ UCLA, UF, @ Auburn 3 game stretch.
Just kind of curious...I have never traveled to an away game but I have close friends who work for ASU...in 08 we have them scheduled. What the best way to get tickets to sit in the seating with Georgia fans?
In '08, you will be able to purchase the tickets from the Athletic Department. UGA contracted for a block of seats in the deal with ASU.
My guess would be 4-6k. Those tickets will be prioritized based on lifetime giving totals to the athletic department. As a point of comparison, we get around 7-8k for most SEC games (my estimate).
I doubt that anyone has any idea what to expect in terms of UGA Fan demand for those tickets. We could sellout and then have to buy the excess from ASU or we may return tickets.
No one has a clue how many UGA fans will travel b/c we haven't left the Southeast for a road game since the 1965 trip to Michigan.
Personally -- I think if ASU has a Top 25 year this year...it'll be a large Georgia crowd. And we'll buy more than our allotment.
As a season ticket holder (off & on) since the early 90's, I think we have a LOT of fans travel to ASU, Colorado, Okla. St., and Oregon over the next few years.
Most of the folks that I go to our home games with have already circled a trip to Arizona for a variety of different reasons. My golfing friends want to take several days and hit some of the Top 100 courses like Troon North, Grayhawk, and Boulders.
I know some others that are planning to take the whole family out a week early and drive up to the Grand Canyon.
Add to that the novelty of seeing the Dawgs outside the SE and I think we will have more than our share of fans there.
Thanks for that info...ASU has a great campus and they have alot of bars around the campus. More so then Athens. Not to sure how they do with attendence but my buddy out that way says it already being talked about around campus. I would imagine they tailgate a lot different then we do as it is 90 degrees in the middle of the morning until late October.
I know that my gameday buddies and I have had the ASU game circled for a few years now as a must go. The ass in Tempe is top notch and a little golf won't hurt anyone.
N.C. State is at South Carolina for the season opener. They're tenatively scheduled to play again in 2009. USC's basically rotating between the UNC and N.C. State, since neither of them seems to want to play us every year. (Which should say something about their confidence, if they're afraid of us.)
Hmmm... looks like the Gators punched the ol' Bulldogs right square in the snotlocker. Lookin' for wins in all the wrong places, eh?
Post a Comment