Georgia Football Should play Clemson Football Yearly

Georgia football should play Clemson football yearly and restart the rivalry. These two are rising stars in the college football world, so why not play each other?

Georgia football and Clemson use to play regularly. From 1962 to 1990, these two played 25 times. They played every year, spanning from 1973 to 1987.

The Bulldogs lead the overall series 42-18-4. When these two played every year, Georgia won eight games, Clemson won six, and they tied once.

Those two teams were the teams to beat in the early ’80s, and now it has come full circle. Georgia and Clemson are two premier programs in modern college football, and they should bring back the rivalry and play every season.

It will only benefit both teams each season regardless of winner and loser.

The College Football Playoff committee decides the best four in various ways, one of those being the strength of schedule.

One way colleges are increasing their schedule strength is by adding Power-5 non-conference schools.

Georgia has Notre Dame at home this season and opening up the 2020 season with Virginia. The Bulldogs recently scheduled Oregon for a game in 2022.

Then Georgia will face off with Clemson in Atlanta in 2024 to open that season. The Bulldogs will also take on Clemson in 2029, 2030, 2032 and 2033 for two home-and-home series.

More recently, Georgia added Oklahoma in 2023 and 2031. The Dawgs will take on UCLA in 2025 and 2026. Georgia added FSU to the schedule for 2027 and 2028 along with Texas in 2028 and 2029.

And of course, the Dawgs play their regular non-conference rival, Georgia Tech through 2037 at this point.

That is eight different Power 5 schools the Bulldogs will face in the next few years.

However, back to my point about Clemson and Georgia playing yearly. If these two added a game against each other and schedule it for either the opening or second week of college football, it would give them both a top-10, at least matchup to add to its schedule every year.

That would increase both teams strength of schedule automatically.

If the two scheduled it then, regardless of winner and loser, it could benefit them in the long run.

By having a top-10 (we will say this even though we know these two are likely top-5 schools to be safe) opponent early in the season will show the committee neither team is afraid of scheduling the best schools to play.

Also, the winner and loser will benefit from this game. In the last three years, these two teams have either lost one game or gone undefeated into the postseason.

So rhetorically speaking, if Georgia won over Clemson, and Clemson won out, and so did Georgia, then the Bulldogs will have a win over a top-5 school while Clemson would have a loss over a top-5 school.

Either way, you look at it, the loss wasn’t to a mediocre team or a team that Clemson or Georgia shouldn’t have lost. Like Clemson when they lost to Syracuse two years ago or Georgia losing to Auburn before beating them in the SEC Championship or last year with the loss to LSU.

By adding a non-conference rivalry like Clemson to the schedule should do nothing but impress the committee.

So if Georgia comes into the SEC Championship game with one loss and loses to Alabama, the win/loss over Clemson should tell the committee that it is one of the top four schools.

Unlike this past season with Notre Dame squeezing in, Georgia would have the superior schedule and should get in without a problem.

Some people may think that adding a game like Clemson to the schedule every year is a terrible idea, but actually, it isn’t if you schedule it correctly and the two teams continue to be powerhouses like they are.

Georgia doesn’t have room to wiggle with its non-conference games until 2034, which gives both schools plenty of time to decide how to do this rivalry. Schedule home-and-home series and alternate like the Dawgs do with Georgia Tech each year.