Thursday was an eventful day for Georgia athletics.
First of all, the Bulldogs agreed to cancel their upcoming home-and-home with Florida State, an unsurprising development with the SEC’s move to nine conference games.
The matchup is the latest in a slew of nonconference games to be canned, joining Georgia’s previously scheduled series with Louisville and NC State.
The Bulldogs also announced that soccer would be returning to Sanford Stadium, with the Georgia women’s soccer team scheduled to play James Madison on Aug. 20 at 6:30 p.m. The game will take place 30 years after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which saw women’s soccer hosted in Sanford Stadium.
The most-exciting news of the day came Thursday night when Georgia softball defeated No. 1 seed Oklahoma 10-5 in the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs scored 10 unanswered runs to advance to the semifinals, where they will face No. 4 seed Texas on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The game will occur during what should be an exciting weekend for the Bulldogs. Both Georgia women’s and men’s tennis teams will compete in the Super Regionals, with the former hosting at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Georgia baseball will also welcome reigning College World Series champion LSU to Foley Field in a series that could see the Bulldogs clinch the SEC regular season title. The Bulldogs’ magic number is four, if all teams play their remaining six conference games.
So enjoy the weekend, and check out the rest of our coverage below.
Trivia time
When is the last time Georgia baseball won a regular season SEC title?
Answer is at the bottom of the newsletter.
Georgia, Florida State call off home-and-home
With the SEC going to nine conference games, some of the marquee nonconference games are at risk of getting cut.
The latest example of that comes with Florida State, as the Bulldogs and Seminoles have mutually called off their home-and-home series, Florida State announced.
Florida State did say in its official announcement on the news that the two schools are working toward a possible neutral-site game.
“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 athletics director Michael Alford said in a statement put out by the school. “We are now discussing playing a future neutral-site contest, and we are optimistic we will get that done. Importantly, this change will not reduce the total home games on our schedule moving forward.”
Softball at SEC Tournament vs. LSU (Lexington, Kentucky): 7-3 victory
Thursday, May 7
Softball at SEC Tournament vs. Oklahoma (Lexington, Kentucky): 10-5 victory
Friday, May 8
Women’s Tennis vs. UCLA (NCAA Super Regional): 4 p.m.
Baseball vs. LSU: 6 p.m.
Softball at SEC Tournament vs. Oklahoma (Lexington, Kentucky): 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 9
Men’s Tennis at Mississippi State (NCAA Super Regional): 1 p.m.
Baseball vs. LSU: 7 p.m.
Sunday, May 10
Baseball vs. LSU: 3 p.m.
Georgia’s Mike White backs NCAA basketball tournament expansion
The NCAA announced Thursday its Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournament fields will increase from 68 to 76 teams starting next season.
Count Georgia men’s basketball coach Mike White as a supporter of the move. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the expansion makes sense because it brings the tournament in line with other sports.
“I don’t think you expand just to expand …,” White said. “Adding eight teams brings men’s basketball in line with other sports with bracketed championships.
“Last year, 68 of 365 basketball teams played in the NCAA Tournament. That’s just under 19%. If the number goes to 76, the percentage is still under 21% (20.8%).”
To White’s point, other men’s scholarship sports have had a higher percentage of teams qualify for their respective bracketed championships.
Georgia proved it could make the NCAA men’s tournament in a 68-team field the past two seasons under White’s direction, and the Bulldogs coach made the case in his interview with the AJC that more teams were worthy.
Georgia head coach Mike White shouts instructions during their game against Arkansas at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Athens. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)
Quote of the day
White on the NCAA Tournament expansion:
“The last two years, we’ve felt like we were comfortably in the tournament on Selection Sunday. That said, in studying what people considered the ‘bubble,’ I have thought there were teams both years that had strong arguments and were left out of the field.”
Soccer returning to Sanford Stadium
The University of Georgia announced Thursday that the Bulldogs’ soccer program will open its 2026 regular season in Sanford Stadium.
Marking the first time the soccer team has played in the iconic football venue, UGA will host James Madison on Aug. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
Admission will be free with ticket availability beginning on July 30. Further information on the match and ticketing will be released in future weeks, according to a UGA news release.
“We are excited for this special opportunity to play on one of the most famous fields in American sports,” Georgia head coach Keidane McAlpine said in the news release.
The “Soccer in Sanford” event comes weeks after the 30th anniversary of the U.S. women’s national team claiming the 1996 Olympic gold medal in Sanford Stadium.
