Report: UGA and Notre Dame Have Agreed To a Home-and-Home Football Series

It looks like 2017 and 2018 could be the first opportunity for Notre Dame to schedule a long awaited SEC opponent in their backyard according to the AJC.

Athens — 

The universities of Georgia and Notre Dame are expected to announce this week they have agreed to terms on a home-and-home football series, according to various reports.

Mike Cavan, a special assistant to Athletic Director Greg McGarity and former college football coach, hinted of a “big scheduling announcement” from Georgia later week while appearing as a guest on “The Bulldog Roundtable” radio show on 680 The Fan on Wednesday morning. After the show, its host Buck Belue tweeted that the opponent was Notre Dame.

“Sounds like UGA has struck a deal w/ Notre Dame! Big anno coming next 24-48. Irish in Sanford Stadium, ‘Dawgs in S. Bend = awesome opp!,” Belue said on his Twitter account, @buckbelue8.

UGA officials have not replied to requests for confirmation.

McGarity has confirmed before that Georgia has been in negotiations with Notre Dame — and other major football powers — to play future home-and-home series. 

Most recently, McGarity was asked about the prospect at the SEC Meetings in Destin last month.

“I think it’s an opponent we’ve played, what, one time 1980?” McGarity told reporters then. “For our fans to be able to go up to South Bend, and for our fans to see Notre Dame play between the hedges, I think from a national perspective it’d be off the charts, as far as interest, as far as intrigue. That would be something out of the ordinary that our fans would be very, very excited about.”

But when asked then how close they were to striking a deal, McGarity said: “I think we’re just waiting to work through some verbal communications before we have anything in writing.”

Georgia and Notre Dame have played just once in football. They met in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1981, and the Bulldogs won 17-10 to complete an undefeated season and eventually be named consensus national champions.

Georgia is currently in the market for non-conference opponents for the seasons of 2017 and beyond. Stay tuned for more details.

This is a series I have been looking forward to my whole life.  Notre Dame will play anybody, any day.  The problem is they always have a tough time scheduling SEC teams with the exception of Tennessee because those schools don't like to travel outside of the Southeast.  Well now UGA has finally stepped up to the plate and taken on the challenge of scheduling a tough out of conference game in Notre Dame.  Kudos to UGA and ND for getting this series on the schedule.  It will be one of the most watched games of the year no doubt and will have both fan bases fired up.  And to top it all off Athens is only a hour drive for me.  The Fighting Irish between the hedges makes for a perfect Fall afternoon.