It’s time for a big change for Georgia-Florida football game

Georgia’s home football schedule for this season is as bad as I can remember in my time living in this state and covering that program.

The Bulldogs’ home schedule includes non-conference games against Appalachian State and Samford along with SEC games against Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina and Kentucky. My goodness.

Other than just wanting to see their Bulldogs play — and there is nothing wrong with that — Georgia fans likely weren’t thrilled about opening their wallets to shell out the money needed to secure season tickets for that schedule. It’s hard to blame them if they felt that way.

Sure, some of this is out of Georgia’s control. The Bulldogs’ schedule is on the same home-away cycle with Auburn, Tennessee and Georgia Tech, and that was terrific last year. It will be terrific next year. This year? Not so much.

And Georgia will play this year at Notre Dame, so it’s not like the Bulldogs’ non-conference schedule is a joke (next year is another story). But again, that trip to South Bend, Indiana, doesn’t help get the home folks excited about paying for Sanford Stadium seats this season.

So some of this is unavoidable, but there is a way to fix the home schedule woes, and it’s pretty simple: Cut out the annual trip to Jacksonville, Florida, for the Georgia-Florida game and change that series to a home-and-home setup.

It’s time. It’s beyond time.

Sure, the Georgia-Florida game makes for an exciting day. Heck, it’s an exciting weekend, and it’s a lot of fun for the fans of both teams. The atmosphere for the game is really like none other. With the stadium cut right down the middle between red and black against the blue and orange, it makes for a startling visual effect for the rivalry and just what it means.

And Georgia gets a big check (more than $3 million) each year to head south to play in that game, so that would be difficult to pass up.

But giving away a home game every other year is a mistake. There is nothing like being on a college campus for a football game, especially a rivalry game. Especially for a heated rivalry game like Georgia-Florida.

Georgia is missing out on that opportunity with the game being played at a “neutral” site. Just imagine how pumped Sanford Stadium would be every other year for a Georgia-Florida rivalry game. That can’t be overstated, and that shouldn’t be so easily given away by the administration and the athletics department just for some extra cash for the trip to Jacksonville.

Making that change also could help Georgia avoid the kind of home schedule it has this year. If the program could somehow get the Auburn, Tennessee or Georgia Tech home game moved to the opposite season and pair it with Florida each year, that would make for a dynamic home season every year.

Just think of home schedule one year showcasing Auburn and Tennessee and the next year showcasing Florida and Georgia Tech. That’s something all Georgia fans could get excited about every year and not just every other year.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 2:48 PM with the headline "It’s time for a big change for Georgia-Florida football game."