The SEC is considering a soccer schedule for the conference only this fall, but under that plan, Georgia hopes Georgia Tech will also be allowed to stay on record.
SEC athletic directors met with Commissioner Greg Sankey for eight hours Monday in Birmingham, Alabama, to discuss, among other things, scheduling options for a season possibly cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Big Ten and Pac-12 are among the Power-5 conferences that have announced that they will only play games within the league if the season is played, a scenario that is being considered by the ACC and the Big 12.
If that happens, Georgia is among the SEC schools pushing to keep its traditional rivalry within the state intact this year. It is a stage with which the Yellow Jackets are also on board.
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“I have spoken to (director of athletics technology) Todd (Stansbury), and he definitely wants to play it,” Georgia AD Greg McGarity said Monday night as he drove back to Athens from Birmingham. “The same goes for FSU and Florida, Clemson and South Carolina and Kentucky and Louisville. The importance of those rival games within the state was mentioned, and you’re talking about traveling within the state. So proximity was a key part of that as well. “
Georgia is scheduled to play the Jackets on November 28 in Athens.
The questions, then, are if the SEC does the same thing and plays conference-only games, how many games will they play, who plays whom, when will the season begin, and when will it be completed?
"We will have another review at the end of the month and see where things are," said McGarity. “Probably the best way to describe it is that there are several options, and they are all on the table. But it will be based on what the information tells us at the end of the month. "
The numbers and logistics of dealing with the unrelenting presence of COVID-19 was also a big part of the discussion on Monday. This situation has had a poor trend in late summer, which has given greater weight to the possibility of not playing soccer this year or altering the schedules to play a shorter season later in the year.
Georgia has not publicly shared the amount of positive tests its athletes have logged since it returned to campus on June 8 for voluntary training, but several programs have, and the information has been alarming. Ohio State and North Carolina are among the Power 5 soccer programs that have closed voluntary training due to the continued presence of the virus in their camps.
But McGarity said the information shared Monday by the SEC's "return to competition committee," which includes UGA director of sports medicine Ron Courson, was not entirely bleak. He referred to Sankey's comments directed at the athletes themselves who adhere to all safety protocols.
Much of the discussion was also about the security logistics that will have to be in place for games to take place, such as masks, hats, and essential personnel.
"They are the voice of experience and the overall message that is about the safety and well-being of student athletes," McGarity said of medical experts. "That is the highest priority. Therefore, all of these decisions will be based on the medical advice we receive from this group. But not everything is as dark as it is represented. "
Various scheduling scenarios have been exchanged, including playing against all eight conference opponents currently on SEC team schedules, adding two more league opponents, playing a shortened season in consecutive weeks, or playing a shortened schedule with free weeks interspersed to allow testing and recovery between.
NCAA Medical Director Dr. Brian Hainline is expected to share his recommendations on how soccer games could be carried out logistically later this week.
Meanwhile, McGarity emphasized that the SEC has not closed the door entirely in time for a full season of play.
"I think it's still possible, but these next 17, 18 days are really critical," said McGarity. "We just need some positive signs."
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