The University of Georgia Athletic Association held its winter board meeting on February 25. Here are some of the newsworthy topics discussed at today's meeting.
G-Day not going anywhere this year
Several programs in college football have canceled their spring games recently. This has been largely due to concerns over potential roster tampering.
Georgia will not be following that path.
"We haven't had any discussions. We're still full-planning on G-Day this year," Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. "You know, you've got to take it year to year on things like that. But I can say one thing I appreciate about Coach (Kirby) Smart is that he understands the value of the game, and it is an opportunity for some of our fans to come see the players and they may or may not have season tickets. It's always been a special day, and I think it's in the plans for this year. As everything goes, you take it day by day, month by month, year by year."
While it hasn't been officially announced by Georgia, it has previously been reported that G-Day will be held on April 12 this year.
Josh Brooks on revenue sharing
Schools are set to have $20.5 million to share with student-athletes this summer as a result of the House settlement. Brooks shed more light on how that will be divided.
"There's going to be a standard set amount in conference. But I can tell you right now, with or without conference standards, ours is going to be very close to the formula that was created from backpay, which is 75, 15, 5 , and 5," Brooks said. "There'll be some variances in there, but that's a good starting point. We're working through those final, last percentages, but it's going to be probably very close to what was described in the back there. That's 75 (percent) football, 15 men's basketball, 5% women's basketball, 5% others."
Brooks added that $2.5 million of the money will go toward funding new scholarships across Georgia athletics. He estimated there will be around 100 new scholarships created.
Changes to championship weekend?
Brooks and Georgia president Jere Morehead were asked about potential changes to football's conference championship weekend in the era of the College Football Playoff.
"The presidents are meeting in March. The commissioner came up to see me on Saturday, but we didn't talk about that issue. It was more about the House settlement and how it's playing out," Morehead said. "I just need to understand more of it. I'm a big fan of the SEC championship weekend because it brings a lot of fans to Atlanta, so I'd hate to see that go away. But I haven't heard what the other proposals are in enough detail to really comment on them."
Brooks added that he is in favor of doing whatever is best for Georgia, which is "Whatever helps us win a national championship or gets us the pathway for a national championship."
Other notes
- The softball and baseball facility projects have been completed to rave reviews from student-athletes. Coaches are moving into their new baseball offices on Thursday.
- Football ticket revenues are at $36.5 million so far, with more to come once sales are finalized.
- The cumulative GPA for all student-athletes stood at a 3.26 GPA for the fall semester, a university record for athletics.
- The lights and sound in Stegeman Coliseum are expected to be upgraded for next basketball season.
- Football practice field improvements are expected to begin construction in January 2026.
- A Sanford Stadium master study is underway to determine what other potential improvements can be made.
- The new track and field complex, currently under construction, is expected to be completed in January 2026.
