The Michigan football team has been scheduled to arrive in South Florida for the CFP Orange Bowl a day before Georgia, but the planning for both schools remains fluid with the game less than 10 days away.
Coach Kirby Smart’s No. 3-ranked Georgia program (12-1) is scheduled to play No. 2-ranked Michigan (12-1) at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 in Hard Rock Stadium.
At the time of this publication, UGA officials have not commented on whether the Bulldogs will mirror the Wolverines and move up their arrival time to begin on-site prep for the Orange Bowl CFP Semifinal in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Christmas Day.
Georgia’s most recent plans were to arrive on Sunday, while Michigan had moved up its scheduled arrival date to Saturday, per MLive.com.
The Wolverines also considered moving up their arrival time even earlier but were not able to get hotel rooms.
Now, there’s a chance both teams could arrive much later and closer to the start of the game.
The CFP officials announced on Wednesday that teams can arrive as late Dec. 29 -- 48 hours before the game. This, in response to the Omicron COVID-19 surge that has caused several cancellations and hundreds of athletes across the sports landscape to enter COVID-protocol.
RELATED: Georgia quarterback, receiver enter into COVID-19 protocol
Speculation relating to the upcoming CFP and bowl schedules swirled on Wednesday after Texas A&M announced it was pulling out of the Dec. 31 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on account of an outbreak within its program.
The Bulldogs have players in COVID-19 protocol, including quarterback JT Daniels and receiver George Pickens, per sources and multiple media reports.
Daniels, who is vaccinated, has contracted COVID-19 per multiple reports citing unnamed sources.
The school has not commented as to the degree of availability that has been affected as players — vaccinated and unvaccinated — entered into a mandatory COVID-19 protocol.
UGA offered its football players another opportunity to get booster shots on Wednesday -- there had been at least three previous opportunities, per sources -- in an effort to stem the likelihood of infection as the COVID-19 Omicron virus surges.
The Wolverines had a full-team booster shot scheduled on Wednesday according to an MLive report quoting senior offensive lineman Andrew Stueber.
The University of Michigan has kept an aggressive approach to preventing the spread of COVID-19, mandating facial coverings indoors and requiring all employees and students to be fully vaccinated.
“I think everyone understands the gravity of the situation,” said Stueber, who indicated he wasn’t aware of any Wolverines sidelined by COVID-19, per MLive.
On Tuesday, the Michigan men’s basketball game had its scheduled game against Purdue Fort Wayne (PFW) canceled because of an outbreak in the PFW program.
Georgia has been among the more successful and diligent of the SEC programs with its COVID-19 protocol, among the few that did not trigger the postponement or cancellation of a game last season.
Smart indicated at SEC Media Days last July that more than 85 percent of the Georgia football team -- the league’s benchmark -- was vaccinated.
Smart said last Monday the Bulldogs preparations wouldn’t be any different on-site than in Athens, but that it would be a different environment.
“It’s not to think that if we were having a game here, and it was a big game in Athens for a week, our guys all prepare different ways,” Smart said. “I have a lot of confidence that the seniors and the older players ... we are trying to build to a moment of truth and built that kind of energy and focus where we need it to be at game time.”