Josh Brooks hopes update on Georgia-UCLA series comes 'soon'

GREENSBORO, Ga. — The update on Georgia-UCLA? There is no update. Director of Athletics Josh Brooks told reporters on Thursday that UGA is “still working through it” and hopes to share an update “soon” on the agreed upon series between the Bulldogs and Bruins for 2025 and 2026.

The question comes Brooks’ way because of his comments earlier this spring on the subject. Interviewed on 92.9 The Game, Brooks told listeners “we’ll see” when asked whether he anticipated Georgia-UCLA to go down as agreed upon in 2015. Changes across the college athletics landscape and those that are on the horizon give more than enough reason to say that the series is in jeopardy.

“With the evolution of the Big Ten schedule and our schedule, we’ve got to make decisions that are best for us and they’ve got to make decisions that are best for them,” Brooks said back in March. “Everything is in play. We’ll see. It’s a fluid situation.”

While news of a cancellation certainly would come as a disappointment for fans that would’ve enjoyed a trip out to California and a return game in Athens, those same folks shouldn’t fear that the Bulldogs won’t be in big games. Under Kirby Smart’s watch, Georgia has already played a home-and-home with Notre Dame (2017 – South Bend, 2019 – Athens), and the Bulldogs have several more on the schedule for years to come. Neutral site openers have also seen an uptick with Georgia doing so in 2016 (North Carolina – Atlanta), 2021 (Clemson – Charlotte), 2022 (Oregon – Atlanta) and this upcoming 2024 season (Clemson – Atlanta). UGA was forced to cancel a 2020 neutral site opener in Atlanta against Virginia due to COVID-19.

The Georgia-UCLA cancellation wouldn’t be a first either for UGA. In 2012, Ohio State called off an agreed-upon series that would’ve seen the Buckeyes and Bulldogs square off in 2020 and 2021. No contract was ever in place there with a Big Ten-Pac-12 scheduling partnership eventually getting in the way. Most recently, it was Georgia-Oklahoma that got put on the chopping block by the SEC with the series not being scheduled for completion before the arrival of the Sooners in the league. That would’ve seen a matchup in Norman in 2023 and Athens in 2031. Oklahoma joins the league this coming fall, and the Sooners were replaced on the schedule for this past season with a home date against Ball State.

Aside from UCLA, future opponents and locations for Georgia beyond 2025 include the following: Louisville (2026 – Louisville, 2027 – Athens), Florida State (2027 – Tallahassee, 2028 – Athens), Clemson (2029 – Clemson, 2030 – Athens, 2032 – Athens, 2033 – Clemson), Ohio State (2030 – Athens, 2031 – Columbus) and N.C. State (2033 – Athens, 2034 – Raleigh). Austin Peay (2025), Charlotte (2025), Western Kentucky (2026), Florida A&M (2028), North Carolina A&T (2030) and Western Carolina (2031) will also make trips to the Classic City for currently agreed upon non-conference matchups.

Of course, those agreed upon series could be the topic of discussion before too long as well. With the SEC having no plan as far as scheduling goes beyond 2025, the current model of an eight-game conference schedule easily could be upped to nine matchups with SEC opponents in the future. League officials are set to meet next week for spring meetings, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the format for future scheduling was a conversation had.

Georgia Football Opponents/Locations by Year

2024: Alabama (Away), Auburn (Home), Clemson (Neutral), Florida (Neutral), Georgia Tech (Home), Kentucky (Away), Mississippi State (Home), Ole Miss (Away), Tennessee (Home), Tennessee Tech (Home), Texas (Away), UMass (Home)
2025: Alabama (Home), Auburn (Away), Austin Peay (Home), Charlotte (Home), Florida (Neutral), Georgia Tech (Away), Kentucky (Home), Mississippi State (Away), Ole Miss (Home), Tennessee (Away), Texas (Home), UCLA (Away)
2026: Georgia Tech (Home), Louisville (Away), UCLA (Home), Western Kentucky (Home)
2027: Florida State (Away), Georgia Tech (Away), Louisville (Home)
2028: Florida A&M (Home), Florida State (Home), Georgia Tech (Home)
2029: Clemson (Away), Georgia Tech (Away)
2030: Clemson (Home), Georgia Tech (Home), North Carolina A&T (Home), Ohio State (Home)
2031: Georgia Tech (Away), Ohio State (Away), Western Carolina (Home)
2032: Clemson (Home), Georgia Tech (Home)
2033: Clemson (Away), Georgia Tech (Away), NC State (Home)
2034: Georgia Tech (Home), NC State (Away)