Georgia-Oregon series is canceled

When Greg McGarity got the athletics director job at Georgia in August, one of the first things he did was reach out to Rob Mullens, the new athletics director at Oregon.

Georgia and Oregon had a signed contract to play each other in football in 2015 and 2016. But McGarity, who was replacing Damon Evans, didn't think it was a great idea.

“I texted (Mullens) and asked him if they’d have any interest in canceling. And he said absolutely, he was gonna call us,” McGarity said.

So with great mutual interest, Georgia and Oregon have agreed not to play each other as scheduled, McGarity and Georgia announced on Monday.

The impending expansion of the Pac-10, bringing Colorado and Utah aboard, is creating scheduling issues for teams in that conference. Oregon did not want to have to go to the other coast in 2016, any more than Georgia wanted to do the same the year before.

“It worked out great. Both schools just said this is something we don’t need to worry about anymore,” McGarity said.

“We’re getting back at 6 a.m. Sunday morning, and we’ve got a big game to prepare for the next day. It’d just be like you or me getting back. You’re not gonna sleep on the plane, I don’t care what you say. So you really lose a day. You’re gonna be worn out already.”

It also fits into McGarity’s main goal in football scheduling, which is getting seven home games a year. Three of the next six years, there can only be six home games, because contracts with Clemson and Louisville are locked in.

“Every now and then I think it’s important to play a rival, like Clemson. I think that’s a great series,” McGarity said. “But you don’t do that every year. I think you pick and choose. And every now and then you can get by with six home games. But that should really only be one time in a decade.”