Since Texas and Oklahoma joined the SEC in 2024 and the East and West divisions were disbanded, some of the annual rivalries across the conference were lost. For the Georgia Bulldogs, that means that they will not play Tennessee for the first time this season since 1992. It also means that they have not played South Carolina since 2023 up until this year.
However, this change does mean some more exciting matchups will occur that fans normally don't see too often. The greatest example of that is how this season will mark the third year in a row Georgia will play Alabama and Ole Miss in the regular season.
Looking deeper into this, a poll was run on social media asking Georgia fans if they'd rather play their traditional opponents and rivals every year or face their non-traditional opponents more often. The numbers were very telling of what fans want going forward.
Georgia fans favor rivalries over new excitement in recent poll
In this poll, 64 percent of fans said that they favored keeping the traditional rivalries over the exciting new matchups the SEC has been getting. Several fans commented that they would rather have both to keep the strength of schedule intact, but the majority of fans preferred having the rivalries stay.
It is worth mentioning that the SEC kept several rivalries "protected" each season. Each team in 2024 was given two games that would always stick. Now with nine games being implemented in 2026, the new format has three protected games each year. Georgia's three protected rivalries include Florida, Auburn, and now South Carolina.
While the South Carolina rivalry makes a reappearance, it is hard to see Georgia not play Tennessee. The atmosphere that game has created the past few seasons has been electric, and it is hard to see that replaced with games like Missouri where there is no hatred or excitement whatsoever.
Georgia is not the only team complaining about losing rivalries either due to SEC scheduling. Some of the rivalries not protected going forward include Auburn-LSU, South Carolina-Tennessee, and most shocking LSU-Alabama.
While having an extra protected game going forward is nice, it does not exclude the fact that some of the SEC's most beloved rivalries are dwindling. Rivalries are what make college football exciting and add that extra level of passion to the game. It is what caused kids to commit to Auburn "just so they could beat Alabama."
With a new college football landscape and so much changing, the game cannot allow for this factor to change.
Add us as a preferred source on Google