The Rivalry Died in the Mail

GEORGIA MONEYBALL — Thursday, September 24, 2026

Georgia and Clemson scrapped four future meetings with two signatures, and the SEC's nine-game schedule held the pen.

ALBANY, GA — · By the RFA Sports Desk

Georgia and Clemson had four dates on the books — 2029, 2030, 2032 and 2033 — and this week they called the whole thing off. The Post and Courier reported the schools agreed by letter, signed by athletic directors Josh Brooks and Graham Neff, with the SEC's move to nine conference games cited as the driving reason. That's how a rivalry ends now. Not with a fumble in the rain or a fight at midfield, but with two signatures on office letterhead, mutually and cordially, the way you'd cancel a magazine subscription.

Dabo Swinney said, 'I hate it, but I get it,' and I'd like that carved somewhere as the official motto of modern college football. Everybody hates it. Everybody gets it. Every man in the sport will tell you, with genuine feeling, that the thing being done is a shame — right before he goes ahead and does it anyway. The SEC wanted nine league games. The ledger wanted what the ledger wants. And a series between two schools close enough to smell each other's barbecue went into a drawer marked someday.

Every man in the sport will tell you, with genuine feeling, that the thing being done is a shame — right before he goes ahead and does it anyway.

If you're wondering who runs the sport, the same week offered another clue. ESPN's College GameDay passed on Athens, Yahoo Sports noted, choosing Texas at Tennessee over Oklahoma's visit to the No. 2 Bulldogs — a matchup that lost its shine once the Sooners lost to Michigan and quit scoring. So the traveling circus parks elsewhere, the future gets trimmed by correspondence, and the games feel more and more like programming. Somewhere in a control room, a fellow decides what's a rivalry and what's an inventory problem.

There is still an actual football game Saturday, and Georgia will be in it. Oklahoma comes to Athens having scored 24 points in its last two outings combined, quarterback John Mateer having thrown two interceptions in a 14-6 escape of New Mexico while allowing his play must improve in a hurry. Kirby Smart told reporters Monday that Nate Frazier is day-to-day but expected to be available, with the rest of the walking wounded due back soon. And DawgNation reports three five-star defensive linemen will be visiting. Some traditions survive after all.

Elsewhere, Saturday was a fine day for chaos. Unranked Kentucky, a 17-point underdog, outgained No. 9 Texas A&M 196 yards to 20 in the third quarter alone and won 31-21 in College Station, sending the Aggies tumbling to No. 23 — the week's hardest fall. And Lane Kiffin went back to Oxford for the first time since leaving for LSU, watched a 24-7 halftime deficit nearly turn, and lost 32-24 when Trinidad Chambliss ran one in late. The neighbors may quit scheduling each other, but the league still provides.

The Notebook

• SCOREBOARD: Alabama 50, Florida State 36. The Tide trailed by 15, sat through two lightning delays, then rode Keelon Russell's 320 passing yards and three touchdowns to 615 total yards.
• LOCK OF THE WEEK: The Fighting Irishmen visit the Boilermaker Welders Saturday at 2 Eastern, favored by 27 and a half. The desk calls it a lock and suggests you not overthink it.
• BY THE NUMBERS: Georgia's sack rate allowed has climbed from 2.6 percent in 2023 to 3.8 this fall — the one line on the ledger moving the wrong direction.

Written in the tradition of Lewis Grizzard, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1946–1994.

Hear the desk read tonights report on Radio Free Albany, WPFQ 96.7.