It was announced by Greg Sankey last week during the SEC Spring Meetings that the conference would move to an eight-game schedule, with no divisions, starting in the 2024 season.
For UGA, the eight-game schedule format could mean the end of annual rivalry games like Tennessee and Auburn.
The new 16-team league's schedule will be released June 14, and will include new member schools Texas and Oklahoma. Instead of the traditional two-division setup, the SEC will now be one single division, with the top two teams playing for a conference championship.
With the Dawgs expected to play both Auburn and Florida in the '24 season, the rest of the schedule gets a little tricky. John Fricke broke down what the future schedules could look like for Georgia on Monday morning's Steakhouse.
"I think they (the SEC) will protect the Egg Bowl," Fricke started. "They'll protect the Iron Bowl. They'll protect the Cocktail Party, but they're not gonna protect much else." Not going to a nine-game schedule eliminates the possibility of having three fixed opponents every year. So games like Tennessee/Alabama, and Georgia/Tennessee, or Georgia/Auburn might be done on an annual basis.
While fans of the three schools might not be thrilled with what may happen in '24 and beyond, Kirby Smart isn't very concerned with the eight game model. During the Spring Meetings, the UGA coach called the whole discussion the "Most overrated conversation there ever was", according to Brett McMurphy of Action News Network.
The SEC schedule release is set for June 14th, on the SEC Network.
