Georgia Football: Who Bulldogs Should Play After Ohio State Series Was Cancelled

One of the unintended consequences of conference realignment is headaches associated with tweaking football schedules. Georgia fell victim to that on Thursday, when the Athens Banner-Herald reported that the 2020-21 home-and-home series between Ohio State and Georgia has been cancelled by the Buckeyes due to the scheduling alliance between the Big Ten and Pac-12.

Conference expansion, scheduling agreements, differing number of league game among major conferences and out-of-conference rivalries have limited the number of slots available to schedule quality non-conference matchups.

But, let's ignore that for a minute and toss out some ideas of games Georgia could schedule in place of Ohio State. Pac-12 and Big Ten schools have been eliminated because, clearly, the alliance between the two conferences causes scheduling issues. 

Miami (Fla.)

This is the easy, and most obvious, choice. Miami is the alma mater of current Georgia head coach Mark Richt. Richt may not be Georgia's coach in 2020, but this game would still make sense. He's led Georgia to its most prosperous era since Vince Dooley roamed the sidelines, and this game could easily coincide with some sort of tribute to Richt and all that he has accomplished in Athens.

West Virginia

West Virginia announced itself as a legitimate threat with a win over Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta following the 2005 season. Revenge wouldn't be as sweet 15 years after the fact, but West Virginia just finished up home-and-home series with Auburn and LSU. Adding Georgia to the docket would be fun, especially since the SEC and Big 12 recently announced their bowl alliance.

Notre Dame

By the time these games would take place, Notre Dame will likely be in a conference—and it's looking more and more like it won't be the Big Ten. If that's the case, this would be a strong series between two tradition-rich programs. I'd like to include the stipulation that Georgia should travel to South Bend late in the season, just to appease cold weather fans who think SEC teams won't play in the cold.

Oklahoma

Texas is the shining star of the Big 12, but seeing Oklahoma between the hedges would be more appealing to me. Just like Notre Dame, Oklahoma is a tradition-rich program that typically at or near the top 10. It'd be a good test for both programs. The only concern would be concern that the two teams could meet several times before 2020 in the new SEC vs. Big 12 bowl.

Florida State

This series would also have ties to Richt, since he was the offensive coordinator of the Seminoles from 1990-2000. There's no telling what conference Florida State will be a part of in 2020, but geographically, it would be an intriguing matchup between two teams that routinely battle on the recruiting trail

Boise State

The Broncos can't still be good in 2020, can they? CAN THEY???

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