Could Georgia’s longstanding rivalry against Auburn be coming to an end?

That was the question posed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jeff Schultz on Wednesday.

The “Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” began in 1892, and the only seasons the two didn’t face off against each other were 1917, 1918 and 1943.

But the rivalry’s long history will not mean much once the Southeastern Conference expands to an eight-game schedule next season, with teams playing six games against schools in their own division and two against the opposite side.

Schultz quoted Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity’s take on the subject on Wednesday, who invoked the annual game between Tennessee and Alabama, which finds itself in a similar situation as the Georgia/Auburn rivalry.

Greg McGarity

“I think if you ask Alabama and Tennessee, like us and Auburn, we’d like to retain the games,” McGarity said. “But does that work? What do the other 10 schools think? Those four schools like having those games but there’s no other East-West matchup that has that piece of history to it. So I don’t see where that fits in.”

McGarity went on to say that when you have to make a schedule in a 14-team conference, there will always be someone whose feelings get hurt.

“With 14 teams, not everybody will be happy,” he said. “Some will have a problem with everything. But we’ll make decisions based on the best situation of the league.”

Those decisions may just not end up in the best interests of Georgia and Auburn.