Technically speaking, No. 1 ranked Georgia will be the “home team” this weekend when UGA squares off with Florida in one of the best rivalry games in football.
It’s dubbed “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” and Jacksonville, Florida has traditionally been the site for the game. In fact, outside of two seasons (1994 and 1995), the city of Jacksonville has been hosting Florida and Georgia’s annual matchup since 1933.
Talk about college football tradition and pageantry, right?
While tradition is great, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart does see one major flaw in the neutral-site game as it approaches its contract renewal date in 2023.
You see, being that it’s a neutral site, each school alternates being the “home team” for each contest.
That’s, of course, largely ceremonial because it doesn’t matter which school’s colors are painted on the field. It does matter on the recruiting trail, though, because programs are allowed to host recruits on official and unofficial visits when they play at home.
That gives coaches and recruiting staff the opportunity to show off campus, a program, and ultimately get to know the recruits better and perhaps develop a winning relationship. The program with this game for Smart, though, is that even though Georgia is the “home” team, the only recruiting advantage the Bulldogs have this weekend is the opportunity to leave tickets for recruits.
They can’t talk to recruits. They can’t show them around campus.
It’s basically a wasted opportunity, in Smart’s mind, and it’s a problem that ESPN reports will play a factor in whether or not Jacksonville continues to host this game in the future.
