Heels could open `10 in the Georgia Dome

From several different sites it seems that head coach Butch Davis and his squad might be starting the 2010 season in the Georgia Dome, located in Atlanta. From a post on ACC Now this is part of the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff, which was started by the Atlanta Sports Council and ESPN in 2008. The online article goes on to say that Carolina would start off the season with either LSU, Georgia or Ole Miss, which would be a much harder opener than starting off the season with a Div IAA team, as the team has done since Davis as been at Chapel Hill. But before etch this into stone UNC assistant AD Larry Gallo slow us down by saying:

“We’re in the preliminary stages,” said Mr. Gallo, who works with Davis on the Tar Heels’ football scheduling. “There’s a lot still to work out.”

The main problem is that in 2010 North Carolina has six home games and six road games, and UNC can not afford to lose a home game. From what I read on the Observations from the 50-yard Line web site Carolina is trying to move either the South Carolina or Rutgers came so that they can play this season opener and still have the same amount of home games. The assistant AD says this about the situation:

“We want this to be a win-win,” Gallo said. “We want the teams we are dealing with to be treated fairly and happy with the solution.”

This would not be the first time that the Heels would be part of a college opener, as they had played in the 1993 Pigskin Classic in Anaheim, CA beating USC in that game by the final of 31 to 9. As far as this blogger is concerned, this is a great thing for North Carolina. It’s another great piece of recruiting, since what recruit does not want to have his team playing on the national spotlight at the beginning of the season with everyone that is craving college football watching the game, and of course, watching them. Also it should be mentioned that from what I saw on the Chick-fil-A site each team (as of right now) are getting $ 1.9 million for their presence. As we know well by now head coach Butch Davis knows how to recruit players to Chapel Hill, being able to have these extra perks is only going to help this.

As a fan I can not wait to see this happen, and in a lot of ways this is like going to bowl game, just at the beginning of the season. I can hardly wait to hear more about this and will keep an ear out for any further details in this story. As soon as they come out I will make sure to post them here.

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