UGA officials respond to SEC conference-only decision

The SEC announced Thursday that it will only play in-conference games in 2020. The SEC’s university presidents agreed on a 10-game schedule that eliminates all out-of-conference opponents and is set to begin Sept. 26. The SEC championship game, originally scheduled for Dec. 5, will be pushed back to Dec. 19.

“It was clear in our meeting today that this delay would be beneficial to our student athletes and promote the safe and orderly return to campus for our student body in August. Having some separation between the earlier reopening of our campuses and the later start of the football season should be helpful.”

—  Jere Morehead, University of Georgia President

In addition, each team will have a bye week and Dec. 12 will be an off-week for the entire SEC. The ACC wanted to allow one out-of-conference game as long as the opposing team was in the same state, which would have allowed the University of Georgia to play Georgia Tech.

“The 10-game SEC schedule provides us the best opportunity to play football as safely as possible in a Covid environment. It’s disappointing the schedule model does not make it possible to play Georgia Tech; however, we look forward to renewing that rivalry in 2021. I do want to commend Commissioner Sankey, his staff, and the University presidents and chancellors for their leadership in continuing to navigate these challenging issues.”

—  Greg McGarity, UGA Director of Athletics

“The 10-game SEC schedule provides us the best opportunity to play football as safely as possible in a Covid environment. It’s disappointing the schedule model does not make it possible to play Georgia Tech; however, we look forward to renewing that rivalry in 2021. I do want to commend Commissioner Sankey, his staff, and the University presidents and chancellors for their leadership in continuing to navigate these challenging issues.”

We look forward to communicating our plan for attendance at home games in Sanford Stadium at a later date. We are thankful for the patience our devoted season ticket holders have shown during this time. We are committed to creating a safe and healthy environment for our fans that will respect and adhere to all Covid guidelines.”

The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already announced plans to play only in-conference games.

Cox Media Group