Clemson and Georgia were supposed to meet four times over the next several seasons.

The two teams were scheduled to face off in Clemson during the 2029 season, then play in Athens the following year. There would have been another home-and-home during the 2032 and 2033 campaigns.

However, last week, it was announced that the schools mutually agreed to cancel all four games.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked about his feelings regarding the cancellation during the SEC coaches teleconference last week.

“Look, I would love to play those games,” Smart said. “I think those games are what the fans want. It’s what the players want. It’s what everybody really wants ultimately at the end of the day is to have an opportunity to do those things. But I can promise you all those same people want to make the playoffs as well.”

Smart currently holds a 2-0 advantage over Dabo Swinney and Clemson, collecting wins over the Tigers in 2021 and 2024. Both of those were neutral site affairs.

The two programs originally scheduled the two respective series in 2018 and 2019, when the College Football Playoff included just four teams and each Power Four team played a standard eight conference games.

With the current state of college football, which includes both the SEC and ACC having moved to a nine-game conference schedule, playing those games in the future is just no longer feasible. Georgia already plays Georgia Tech every season in an out-of-conference rivalry matchup, while Clemson does the same with its in-state rival South Carolina. The Tigers are also scheduled to play Notre Dame in each of the next 12 seasons.

“There’s a lot of college football right now that’s questioning the decision-making of committees and different groups in terms of playoff games,” Smart said. “And certainly think that might have something to do with it. I think the easy answer to that is if people feel like the best teams are being included regardless of a win-loss column, it would probably open that up.

“And that’s always been talked about and it’s always been preached about to us — to us meaning SEC coaches — that things are going to be taken into consideration is strength of schedule, strength of opponents, strength of all these things. And then it doesn’t seem like that happens.”

Swinney also shared his thoughts on the cancellation last week.

“I hate it, just because I think it’s great for fans. But I get it. I don’t know how many people play 11 Power four games. We’ve been playing 10 around here forever.”

The Bulldogs own a 44-18-4 lead over the Tigers in the all-time series record, and despite the two schools only being separated by about 75 miles, it appears the chances of another regular season matchup are rather slim in this current era.

Photo courtesy of Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider