Could the Georgia Bulldogs Kickoff the New Year in Atlanta at the Peach Bowl?
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ATHENS - Gary Stokan of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is eager to find out who will play in this year’s New Year’s Six game in Atlanta. It could be the Georgia Bulldogs kicking off thier new year in Atlanta for the first time ever.
“There is no lobbying,” he said of the matchup that will become the 2021 version of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Still, the game has a slew of possible matchups. Stokan, who made clear that he will find out with everyone else who will be placed in the game this Sunday at 2:30 PM, said getting a name-brand program like the No. 8 Bulldogs would be great exposure for the game.
“With Georgia being in the semifinal and National Championship Game lately, now unlike any other time since maybe the 1980s with Herschel, UGA is a huge national brand and TV opportunity for our title sponsor and the game.”
The Bulldogs won’t play this weekend, but they will watch with interest to see where they will play on or before New Year’s Day in one of the top bowl games out there. The Bulldogs are all but certain to be in a New Year’s Six Bowl game for the four year in a row. The question is where.
Georgia could still wind up in the Orange, Peach or Cotton Bowl. A date in the Fiesta Bowl against the Pac-12 champion is unlikley.
Still, Georgia could get to either the Peach and Cotton as an at-large team. The Orange Bowl is a possible destination because of that bowl’s tie-ins with the SEC, but some things have to happen first. Texas A&M, which is ranked No. 5 in the CFP playoff rankings, is slated to go to Miami if no major upsets happen over the weekend. A loss from Clemson in the ACC Championship Game coupled with a Florida loss to Alabama would pave a path for the Bulldogs to play in the Orange Bowl against the Tigers. But in the unlikley event that Ohio State is upset in the Big Ten title game, the Buckeyes would fall to the Orange Bowl.
The Peach Bowl is getting ready to host teams this winter with a flexible, shortened bowl schedule. Bowl games often have days of activities for teams, but Stokan said Thursday that teams selected for the Atlanta-based bowl will have the option to practice either once or twice in Mercedes-Benz Stadium before the game.
“On December 30th teams playing can either practice in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and then have a team arrival dinner. Or teams can practice at home and fly in and have the dinner,” he said. “On December 31st, teams will practice at stadium, and then have a virtual hospital visit.”
The two teams will then kickoff at 12:30 on New Year’s Day on ESPN.
Stokan said the game is taking the pandemic very seriously - putting a succession plan in place for the next few weeks for the Peach Bowl staff. Only around 18,000 fans will be permitted to watch the game live, and everyone at the game will be required to wear masks.
Stokan added that the two programs participating in the game will continue the testing procedures they have had in place for the season.
“The protocol for testing will be the same with the two teams as they have been through the season,” he said.
Stokan added that he talks weekly with the CEOs of the other New Year’s Six bowl games.
“We talk every Friday. We compare protocols - what we need to prepare for,” he said.
In terms of which team will go where - Stokan said that’s out of his control these days.
“On Sunday we will be waiting to see who will be in the Rose and Sugar. The CFP committee will announce those four teams, and then the Orange Bowl will select two teams,” he said. “The only team that gets benefit for playing closer to home in these bowls is the No. 1 overall team. No. 2, 3 and 4 don't get that right. Where they fall is where they play. Ordinarily, in the past, the reasons they have put the New Year’s Six games where they are is so that geographically the New Year’s Six can have some proximity of closeness because of travel. With this year and the pandemic, they will really take travel into consideration. I think that will be the case this year.”
What will that mean for Georgia, Florida and others? We will have to wait until Sunday to find out.
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