The SEC and ACC are joining the rest of the Power Four conferences by shifting to a nine-game conference schedule. While it may seem like progress for the two conferences, it has led to several game cancellations across the two leagues. After canceling their home-and-home series, Florida State and Georgia have had to create a new schedule for their matchup and have agreed on a neutral venue.

Per Warchan’s Ira Schoffel, the Seminoles and the Bulldogs have reportedly agreed on playing their upcoming 2028 neutral-site game in Nashville. They reached this final decision after considering seven cities. The initial plan was a home-and-home series, with FSU hosting the Bulldogs at Doak Campbell Stadium in 2027 and traveling to Sanford Stadium in 2028.

“As we considered the effects of evolving scheduling mandates within both the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference, we have mutually agreed that it is in the best interest of both schools to cancel our home-and-home series scheduled for 2027 and 2028,” FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford said at the time of the cancellation.

The non-conference matchup between the Seminoles and the Bulldogs was scheduled as a home-and-home series in 2027 and 2028, after a two-year agreement. However, the conferences of the two programs, the ACC and the SEC, expanded to nine-game conference schedules, simultaneously limiting the non-conference games to three per season. This led to an agreement between the two programs to cancel the games and play a neutral-site game instead.

Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, New Orleans, Orlando, and Tampa were all considered before the two programs settled on the 60,000-seat Nissan Stadium in Nashville. The pair were set to meet on September 16, 2028, but the date may now change due to the recent development. At the moment, Georgia will play Florida A&M on September 9, but has no games scheduled for the week before and after that game.

From a financial perspective, such a neutral-site matchup would eliminate the gate revenue programs that would normally be generated by hosting games on campus. However, neutral-site games come with their perks, too. Whatever revenue is missed by playing off-campus is made up for through the guaranteed payouts and corporate sponsorship that neutral-site games provide. FSU made about $2.5 million in 2017 when they played an opener against Alabama at a neutral site.

FSU vs Georgia Bulldogs matchup history

While the pair has not played against each other in the regular season since 1965, the Bulldogs have the better head-to-head record, 7-4-1. The last time the Seminoles and the Bulldogs faced each other was at the 2023 Orange Bowl. It was just after the regular season that the Seminoles became the first Power Four conference champion to miss out on the College Football Playoff despite going undefeated (13-0).

In their Orange Bowl matchup, Kirby Smart’s Georgia embarrassed Mike Norvell’s FSU by 63-3. The victory set a record for the largest win margin in a bowl game in the history of college football. However, there was a caveat. Frustrated by the playoff snub, most FSU starters opted out of the game and decided to ready themselves for the NFL draft instead. And the others who intended to transfer no longer bothered waiting for the bowl game.

The 2028 fixture would be the Noles seeking to bounce back from that historical defeat.