Georgia adds Ball State to 2023 schedule to replace Oklahoma
Georgia has found a replacement for Oklahoma on its 2023 schedule. The Bulldogs will play host to Ball State on September 9, 2023, a date that originally had them traveling to Norman to take on the Sooners.
It will be the first ever meeting between Georgia and Ball State. The Cardinals are no stranger to playing Power Five or SEC teams. They kicked off their 2022 season on September 1 against Tennessee. They also played Penn State in 2021.
The cancellation of the home-and-home series between Georgia and Oklahoma was announced well less than an hour before UGA announced that it would be adding Ball State to the schedule. The Bulldogs and Sooners aren’t going to play the series they agreed upon in 2019 because of direction from the SEC.
“The Southeastern Conference has directed the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee to postpone scheduled football games versus Oklahoma because the transition of Oklahoma into the SEC will not allow for the involved institutions to fulfill their respective contractual non-conference home-and-home appearance obligations.
“Because the second non-conference game in each of the Georgia-Oklahoma and Tennessee-Oklahoma series is scheduled to take place after Oklahoma joins the SEC in 2025, the Conference is directing the postponement of the Georgia at Oklahoma game in 2023 and the Oklahoma at Tennessee game in 2024 until such time that those matchups become part of the Conference rotation of games in future years.”
SEC’s Official Statement
Georgia’s non-conference schedule in 2023 now includes two group of five programs in BSU and UAB. FCS opponent Tennessee-Martin, and in-state rival Georgia Tech from the ACC. The Bulldogs will also play the six other teams from the SEC’s Eastern Division, annual SEC Western Division opponent Auburn, and rotation SEC Western Division opponent Ole Miss.
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Kirby Smart has made it a point to try and get at least two and sometimes three non-conference opponents from the Power Five conferences on the schedule in recent years. The Bulldogs played Oregon in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game to start this season. They played Clemson in the Duke’s Mayo Classic to start the 2021 season.
Georgia also has home-and-home series set up with Florida State, Louisville and Clemson. It will also play Clemson in the 2024 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game.
“As far as scheduling philosophy, it’s never changed for us,” Smart said. “You look at it as if you make decisions right now for right now. Decisions made for this year and next year were made a long time ago. It’s always been my philosophy to go play a quality opponent, a Power 5 opponent, a big matchup. I don’t care if it’s home and home, I don’t care if it’s neutral site. I mean go play a good team because I really believe that helps your team get better.”
