We’re less than a month into the college football season, and fans are being rewarded with one of the best matchups we’ll see all year. No. 3 Georgia will host No. 7 Notre Dame Saturday night in a game that may have massive playoff implications for both teams.
The hype around this game is best summarized by taking a look at the soaring ticket prices. Tickets to see the Fighting Irish against the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga., are the most expensive this season and among the five toughest tickets to buy in general over the last five years.
According to Vivid Seats, the average ticket price through last Sunday has been $611. The only games that have been more expensive are the Georgia-Auburn game in December 2017 ($784), Georgia-Alabama in December 2018 ($655), and Georgia-Notre Dame in September 2017 ($619).
The average ticket for this Saturday’s game is more expensive than the Alabama-Florida State opening night game in 2017, which was going for an average of $599. Regardless, the $611 is price tag is astronomical, especially when you compare it to this weekend’s game in Madison between No. 11 Michigan and No. 13 Wisconsin. What’s the average ticket price to see two blue-chip programs which are both nationally-ranked? A measly $184.
The last time these two teams played was in 2017, one of the high-priced games mentioned above. That year, the game was played in South Bend, when Georgia knocked off the Irish 20-19 at Notre Dame Stadium. Thousands of Georgia fans attended the game, and one could assume Notre Dame fans will return the favor this time around.
The Bulldogs are anticipating all these extra fans as well. They are adding 500 more seats in the aluminum bleachers below the west end zone scoreboard for Fighting Irish fans, allowing them 8,000 visiting seats in total. This brings the stadium capacity to a whopping 93,246, a record number for Sanford Stadium.
Officials for the university have already said they are preparing for as many as 90,000 fans without tickets to be in Athens for the game on Saturday night.
The Matchup
Of course, the biggest reason for the hype around the game is due to the current ranking of each program. It’s the first time Georgia is hosting a non-SEC matchup between two top-10 teams since 1966 when No. 7 Georgia beat No. 5 Georgia Tech. That game came two years after the Yellow Jackets left the SEC, in Bobby Dodd’s final season as head coach.
As of this writing, Georgia is a 14-point favorite at home against Notre Dame, and the over-under has been placed at 56. The Bulldogs have won both times they played against the Irish in their school history, and are 9-1 in their last 10 games against independent opponents.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame is just 5-5 in its last 10 games overall against SEC opponents. Both Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly and Georgia coach Kirby Smart are average against top-25 opponents over the last three seasons, going 8-7 and 7-7, respectively.
The heavily-anticipated game will kick off Saturday night at 8 pm EST in Athens, Ga.
