Is there life in "The Movement" yet?
Gentry Estes says maybe so, and he got that straight from the horse’s mouth:
Preliminary discussions have taken place with Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State about the prospect of one or more of them scheduling a home-and-home series with Georgia in the future, UGA athletics director Greg McGarity confirmed to Dawgs247.
"We’d love to do a home-and-home with a Big Ten or Midwestern school that has a rich tradition," McGarity said. "We’re going to work as hard as we can to make that happen.
"Hopefully, within the next year, we’ll be able to have something in writing."
Bill King likewise sees this as a story that could have legs:
This obviously is the kind of exception McGarity alluded to earlier in the season when he first announced he preferred a cupcake-heavy seven-home-game schedule model for the Dogs. As he told the Athens Banner-Herald early in November, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State are the types of nonconference home-and-home series he wants to sign. But, he added, "we’d do that periodically. It’s got to be at the right time and against the right opponent that has the same rich tradition of college football as the University of Georgia."
Does this mean I should book a flight to Ann Arbor and schedule a visit to Zingerman’s to buy some of that applewood-smoked bacon I’ve enjoyed so much as a member of the bacon of the month club? Brian Cook says not so fast, my friends:
Would Michigan be interested? I'd hope so. Dave Brandon's already set up a neutral site matchup with Alabama that's slightly cool but also thousands of miles from either campus in a generic, if swanky, corporate stadium. From a fan's perspective having a home and home with Georgia is way cooler than a one-off in Dallas. From a financial perspective not so much—Michigan's getting a home game's worth of revenue from the Jerryworld game—but money isn't everything and Michigan needs something to spruce up the schedule in years when Nebraska, Ohio State, and Notre Dame are all road games. Of course, "sprucing up" the schedule in those years means "making it brutal," so maybe not.
Would they be more interested than the other three schools listed? Probably not. I'd bet Michigan is the least likely of the four to actually land a series with Georgia. Because of their Notre Dame series they have to work in games against actual opponents where they can; Penn State and Ohio State don't have any annual commitments and Notre Dame has to fill twelve games every year.
I’d rather see the Georgia Bulldogs play the Michigan Wolverines than any of the other three options offered, but Brian is right that the Maize and Blue probably are the least likely of the Red and Black’s four potential once and future Big Ten opponents. Personally, I’m in "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" mode on this one; I’ll believe it when I see it, but not before. Where is the rest of Bulldog Nation on this one?
Go ‘Dawgs!