Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith on status of football games with UGA in 2030-2031
ATLANTA — Gene Smith was hobnobbing with folks near the large wall of helmets in the College Football Hall of Fame Thursday morning while Ohio State players and coaches took part in Peach Bowl Media Day.
The game Saturday will be the stage for the Buckeyes and Georgia meeting for just the second time ever and it comes in a national semifinal game.
The two brand name programs are scheduled to play next in 2030 and 2031, but with so much changing on the collegiate landscape, the Ohio State athletic director was asked about the status of those games.
“We’re still obligated to play it but I don’t know what the hell is going to happen,” Smith said. “Who knows? We’ll just watch it and see what happens with Texas and Oklahoma coming to the SEC and what their scheduling model is and will that affect nonconference. I don’t know.”
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The schools announced in November 2019 that Ohio State would visit Athens on Sept. 14, 2030 and Georgia would play in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 30, 2031.
Smith said it’s fair to characterize those games as “up in the air.”
He indicated so are other marquee nonconference games for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State also has games scheduled with Alabama in 2027 and 2028 and Texas in 2025 and 2026.
“All of those are up in the air,” he said. “Everything is up in the air. …All those are contracted, we’re planning to play them, but…my guess is we’ll have to see if that affects their three game vs. four game nonconference schedule and what does that mean?”
Oklahoma and Texas will join the SEC by 2025, but Brett McMurphy of the Action Network reported earlier this month that there is “momentum,” for them to leave the Big 12 a year early and join the SEC in 2025
Smith said playing Georgia a week before a conference game wouldn’t make sense for Ohio State.
The Big Ten is adding Southern Cal and UCLA in 2024.
Asked Thursday about the future of the Ohio State series, Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said: “As for our future schedules we must first finalize what the SEC scheduling model will be before we make any future scheduling decisions.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Ohio State AD Gene Smith on the future of the series with Georgia
