The Florida Gators are still orange and blue. The Georgia Bulldogs are still red and black.
Other than that? Nothing will be recognizable in today’s annual SEC rivalry game. And I mean nothing.
For starters, the game won’t be in Jacksonville for the first time in three decades. It won’t return to Duval until 2028 due to stadium renovations. Today, it’ll be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in Atlanta. Next year, it’ll be in Tampa.
The name of the game itself has also undergone major changes. For years, it was known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.” Fans still affectionately call it that even though the NCAA changed it … for obvious reasons.
This year, arguably the SEC’s biggest rivalry game outside of LSU-‘Bama will be known as — and I hope you’re sitting down for this — the “Invesco QQQ Atlanta Gridiron Classic.”
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Rolls right off the tongue!
So, yeah — a lot has changed. None of it is particularly good. Perhaps the most contentious change at the moment? The roof at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which will be closed this afternoon despite glorious weather conditions in Atlanta.
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Fans from both teams — divided on just about everything else — were firmly united in this one.
They hate it:
I could go on and on. Nobody is happy right now. Again, both these fanbases hate each other, but they’ve found some real common ground when it comes to this year’s game.
I’m with them, by the way. Frankly, I think this game should be in Athens, and I think next year’s game should be in Gainesville before it returns to Jacksonville in 2028. That seemed like a no-brainer to me.
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But the schools decided to play it at a neutral site because, I assume, corporate checks hit the bank account a little differently. Those are important in today’s NIL world, you know?
Personally, I think neutral site games in college football are just awful. They stink. The best thing college football has going for it is the campus atmosphere. That’s why we love it, right? It’s what makes College GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff great. It’s why the college football playoff is great — at least for the first round.
But over the past decade or so, there’s been this shift to neutral site games. You see it all the time in the season-openers. There’s just no juice. No spark. It doesn’t quite hit the same.
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And don’t get me started on the international games. Throw those in the trash can and toss the bag into a landfill. There is nothing worse than an international college football game. Nothing.
Give me a break.
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Anyway, happy Florida-Georgia day to all who celebrate!
No need for sunglasses in Atlanta this afternoon.
