The Auburn Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs football programs do not want the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry" game to go away.
As On3's Barkley Truax acknowledged, there's renewed interest in an additional SEC game, which supports the idea that AU and UGA will get what they want.
"Both sides likely want to preserve the tradition. However, the debate over whether the SEC should transition to a nine-game conference schedule raged on during the conference’s preseason media days earlier this month. The Big Ten Conference adopted the model back in 2016, and the recent additions of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC’s ranks has sparked renewed interest in adding an additional game," Truax wrote.
Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart made it clear what he feels about the rivalry.
“Every game in the SEC is important,” Smart said at SEC Media Days earlier this month. “I get it, that’s a that’s a huge rivalry game — a tradition that I love. I grew up in southwest Georgia, where it’s easier to get to Auburn than it was Georgia from where I live. So I respect that rivalry. But they’re all big games. I would hate to lose that one if that happened.”
While Hugh Freeze would probably like the rivalry to be put on hold since he probably still doesn't think he has enough recruiting cycles to catch up, it appears tradition will likely live for Auburn and Georgia.
Good.
If it doesn't, many old school college football fans who are already jaded about NIL would likely tune out for good.
While ratings are going through the roof with the dawn of sports betting and popular cultural figures like Deion Sanders and Bill Belichick becoming head coaches, the people spending money on season tickets and setting up tailgates don't need to be punished with one of the sport's biggest rivalry games, at least historically, going away.