It will mark the second time in as many years that the Toppers will take on an opponent from the Southeastern Conference. WKU — which currently is No. 1 in both The Sports Network and ESPN/USA Today polls — is at Auburn this weekend.
“We are excited to be playing a team the caliber of Georgia,” WKU head coach David Elson said. “I’m sure our players and fans will be looking forward to a trip to Athens to start the 2006 season.”
The Hilltoppers have faced a Division I-A opponent from a Bowl Championship Series league every year since the beginning of the 2001 campaign. Western visited Wisconsin that season, falling 24-6, while making a pair of trips to both Kansas State (in 2002 and ’04) and Auburn (2003 as well as this year). The Toppers dropped a 27-13 decision at K-State to open last fall.
WKU has advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs in each of those five years, winning the national championship in 2002.
“What a great chance for our student-athletes and fans to visit one of college football’s most historic venues and compete ‘between the hedges’ against the Georgia Bulldogs,” said Selig. “Given our current four-year basketball series with Georgia, kicking off the 2006 football campaign in Athens is just another great opportunity for WKU and Georgia to showcase our student-athletes.”
Including this weekend’s Auburn contest, the Toppers will enter the UGA game with nine all-time meetings against SEC opponents. But, before the two games against the Tigers the last three years, Western had not faced a league opponent since Sept. 26, 1942, when it visited Mississippi. Five of the Hilltoppers nine contests against the SEC have come against Vanderbilt, with WKU facing Ole Miss in the other two games.
