Want to go to the Michigan-Georgia Orange Bowl semifinal? Here’s what it will cost you
It took just two days for the Orange Bowl between the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines and No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs, a College Football Playoff semifinal, to sell out from the time the matchup was announced.
The pairing was announced Dec. 5. The Orange Bowl announced Dec. 7 that Hard Rock Stadium was sold out for the New Year’s Eve game.
But for those who still want to attend the game on Friday (kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.), tickets are plenty available on the secondary market.
The starting price on Ticketmaster, as of Tuesday morning: $176. That will put you in Row 30 of Section 306 at Hard Rock Stadium, an upper-level end-zone seat and one of a few tickets on the market for under $200. Now, these tickets are sold in pairs. The cheapest single ticket on the site is $219 and it’s in the same section — Row 24 of Section 306.
Want to be closer to the action? The cheapest tickets in the 100-level sections are going for about $250, but most are going for a minimum of $350.
Michigan defensive coordinator’s Georgia ties
Mike MacDonald, Michigan’s first-year defensive coordinator, said this year has been the most fun he’s had during his coaching career.
The most likely runner-up? That would be his time coaching the freshman team at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens while he was a student at the University of Georgia.
“That was a blast,” MacDonald said Tuesday. “Shoot, I remember Wednesday night mop nights. You wouldn’t know what guys would show up to practice sometimes, but talk about great people in that building. ... We’d have our games Thursday nights and then go see the friends and let them know how we did. I think five of the six games we had shutouts, so I’m still pretty proud of that.”
His coaching career was officially underway. MacDonald spent his senior year at UGA as a student assistant working with the Bulldogs’ linebackers in 2010 before spending three seasons as a defensive quality control assistant with UGA. He then moved to the NFL, joining the Baltimore Ravens as a defensive intern in 2014 and then progressing to a defensive assistant in 2015 and 2016, defensive backs coach in 2017 and linebackers coach in 2018-2020 before accepting the Michigan defensive coordinator job this season.
“My personal goals, I always wanted to be a defensive coordinator at any level, and this is big-time football,” MacDonald said. “It doesn’t get any bigger than this.”
Georgia receiver corps gets boost
The Bulldogs are set to get back one of their top playmakers.
Junior wide receiver George Pickens is now with the team in South Florida after originally not traveling because he was in COVID-19 protocols.
Pickens was one of Georgia’s top pass catchers as a freshman and sophomore, combining for 85 receptions, 1,240 yards and 14 touchdowns in those two years before suffering a knee injury during spring practices.
He has played in just two games this season, catching three passes for 46 yards.
“George has done a fantastic job of working to get back, to give himself a chance to play at the back end of this season,” Bulldogs offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “When I think back to the spring when he injured his knee and thinking, ‘Wow, what a disappointment for him and his development and for us,’ but he has done a fantastic job of trying to get back. There are going to be some things that he continues to work through, trusting the knee, obviously reps. ... He’s still a young developing player, and we’re still trying to work him in and to make sure that he can help us offensively and most importantly help us win with what he can do at this point.”
.JPG)