Hugh Freeze hints at fate of Auburn-Georgia rivalry during SEC expansion talk
Hugh Freeze could have given us a spoiler alert. During a press conference on Monday, the Auburn head coach seemingly leaked a massive change to the SEC schedule in the coming years.
“The game has changed and I don’t know that we coaches have the power to to do anything to really slow the changes down,” Freeze said. “Obviously the conference realignment is happening within our conference and I’m pretty confident that the SEC is pretty solid on where we are. I think they’ll enjoy the new rivalries when they get to see Texas and Oklahoma and among the great rivalries that we already have in our conference.
“I’ll miss playing Georgia every year because I just got to experience it for my first time and I loved every minute of it other than the outcome. I love competing against those type teams. And so there are some changes coming.”
Nobody said anything about Georgia, Coach. The annual Auburn-UGA, often referred to as the “Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry,” is a staple in the SEC. The two programs first played in 1892. After playing in 1944, the teams have played every year since, totaling 126 games.
Georgia leads the rivalry with a 64-56-8 record against the Tigers. The outcome fell on history’s side again this season. On Saturday, the Bulldogs narrowly defeated Auburn 27-20. The matchup was the first between Kirby Smart and Freeze since the 54-year-old coach took over the Auburn program.
Auburn-Georgia rivalry ending on a high note?
Although Auburn ultimately fell for the seventh-straight time to the Bulldogs, Freeze enjoyed the competition.
“I’m really proud of our kids,” Freeze said after the game. “Coming off a road loss where we didn’t play particularly well, I thought they had a great week of practice and good week of prep, and hopefully they see they can go toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s best. We have more of those coming. That’s what you should build from.
“When you have a chance to beat the No. 1 team in the country and back-to-back national champions at home, the feeling you get if you can pull that off is ecstatic. You can build off that, and hopefully we can build off the way we played better today. It hurts and it’s disappointing we didn’t find a way to get it done today. I’m proud of our kids.”
If it is the last meeting between Auburn and SEC for a while, it was a good one. With Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC next season, teams will maintain an eight-game conference schedule. Only time will tell how that schedule adapts to age-old rivalries.