Historic College Football Programs Cancel 4-Game Series by Mutual Agreement
from Essentially College Football
Did you enjoy the 84 point beatdown by the Oregon Ducks against Portland State? The answer will determine whether you are going to enjoy what the future of college football scheduling is going to look like. Athletic directors across the country saw what the playoff committee did to Texas for losing against Ohio State and they are taking notes.
Even though scheduling cupcake games has been a longstanding practice, traditional rivalries and big non-conference battles still carried weight. But now the cost of missing the playoffs is too high and one of college football’s oldest border battles is officially off the books for the time being.
Clemson and Georgia have mutually agreed to throw out their four-game series planned for 2029 through 2033, dealing a heartbreaking blow to fans who love traditional regional rivalries. Georgia’s AD Josh Brooks and Clemson’s AD Graham Neff signed off on the termination, as they agreed “to terminate the contracts and all of the provisions of these contracts, including payment requirements,” according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
“The two programs were slated to open the series at Memorial Stadium in Clemson on September 15, 2029, followed by a matchup at Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium in Athens on August 31, 2030,” FB Schedules’ Kevin Kelley reported. “Additional games were scheduled for September 4, 2032, in Athens and September 3, 2033, in Clemson.” What is interesting is that even the money that was locked in for cancelation is being forgone in the interest of a quick resolution.
The termination document nullified all contractual provisions, including payment requirements, that involved liquidated damages in the original contracts amounting to between $1M and $1.5M per canceled game. Both the Tigers and the Bulldogs have to find other nonconference opponents to fill these open dates, and they have yet to announce the replacements officially.
Both the SEC and ACC have shifted to nine-game conference schedules each season, leaving fewer spots for big nonconference matchups. With rivalry games and conference commitments already filling their schedules, Clemson and Georgia had to make room somewhere. They chose to cancel the four matchups, and unfortunately for the fans, it came at the expense of a rivalry that dates back to 1897.
The two campuses are separated by a mere 70 miles, making this an organic border feud where fans and families frequently overlapped. The late 1970s and 1980s saw the peak of the rivalry. In the 11-year stretch between 1977 and 1987, the teams split the series perfectly (5-5-1), with nine of those games decided by a single possession.
The rivalry was played annually from 1897 to 1916 and again from 1962 to 1987. However, it became an intermittent series after 1987 due to the growth of the SEC and the ACC. Despite the prestige that both programs carry, Georgia has dominated this rivalry with 44 wins, 18 losses and 4 ties. This includes winning eight of the last nine meetings dating back to 1991.
This isn’t Georgia’s first rivalry football series cancellation, as the Bulldogs already scrapped their series with Louisville, and NC State over the past year. Georgia’s home-and-home game with Ohio State is still locked in for 2030 and 2031.
Though Georgia’s athletic director Brooks seemed to be in favor of moving games with Clemson to a neutral site, Clemson’s AD Neff was against the suggestion to play out of home.
“We think football games are best played on a college campus — huge believers in that,” Neff said in June, according to Marc Weiszer of Athens Banner-Herald. “What becomes of our Georgia-Clemson scheduled series? It’s really uncertain. But we’ve also got to look at ways to raise revenues. So there’s neutral sites. There’s opportunities like that, which Josh and I have talked about. But at this point I don’t expect anything like that to come to fruition in order for us to invest in what games look like at Memorial Stadium.”
For the Tigers, the program already has plenty of marquee games ahead, including a 12-year Notre Dame deal starting in 2027 and its annual rivalry with South Carolina. However, Clemson is still set on wanting more home games at Memorial Stadium, while Georgia is seeking a bigger payday at neutral sites.
Clemson-Georgia adds to growing list of College Football series being scrapped
Clemson-Georgia isn’t the only cancelled series, as it’s part of other recent football programs that are cancelling their marquee games, with the conferences tightening their scheduling formats.
North Carolina and South Carolina mutually cancelled their 2028 and 2029 series, with UNC filling the gap using Kennesaw State and NC State instead. Alabama and Oklahoma State also scrapped their 2028-2029 matchups over scheduling conflicts.
Mississippi State dropped their home-and-home game with Texas Tech to make room for the SEC’s nine-game slate, as they brought in Bowling Green as a replacement. Oregon and Baylor have also called off their 2027-28 series, with Oregon opting for Coastal Carolina. Even Vanderbilt paid a $1M buyout to get out of its 2028 return trip to NC State, while Oklahoma dropped its 2028 games against Colorado State.
As conference realignment keeps shrinking the space for old-school nonconference matchups, schools are choosing flexibility and money over historical rivalries.