Officials from Georgia Tech and Auburn have had discussions about renewing their longtime series. It would be the first meeting between the longtime rivals since 2005.
The conversations are in their early stages, Tech senior associate athletic director Ryan Bamford said. There is interest in a home-and-home series, but the two sides face a challenge in finding a suitable arrangement. For the sake of balance, neither team wants to play a road game in a possible series and a road game at Georgia in the same year, but the schools’ series with Georgia are on the same cycles. Both Tech and Auburn play in Athens in even-numbered years and at their home stadiums in odd years.
Tech and Auburn have played 92 games, starting in 1892, the Yellow Jackets' first season. They met every season between 1904 and 1942 and then 1944 and 1987.
There has been talk about a possible neutral-site game, Bamford said, but the discussions have not advanced far. With Tech’s model of scheduling an additional power-five conference game in addition to Georgia, Tech would have openings in 2018 and 2020. Tech plays Notre Dame this fall, Vanderbilt in 2016, is expected to play Tennessee in the Chick-fil-a Kickoff game in 2017 and Notre Dame again in 2019 and 2021. Ole Miss is scheduled for 2022 and 2023.
Tech is also working on a home-and-home with a non-power conference team for 2017 and 2020. Bamford said it might be a team from the American Athletic Conference; Tech already has upcoming games against South Florida and Tulane out of the AAC. Bamford said he was looking for “someone that our fans would look at as a quality opponent and possibly a little bit of a destination if they were going to travel and support us.”
