Georgia Football Will Not Travel To White House For National Championship Celebration Because Of Date Offered

Georgia's football team will not be visiting the White House to celebrate its 2023 national championship. The news comes after the Bulldogs were invited to attend a summer celebration in the nation's capital.

The White House will be honoring both LSU and UConn for winning national titles in basketball. Due to the timing of the potential scheduled event, Georgia officials declined the White House invitation. The school released a statement Tuesday, thanking the White House for the invitation.

"Unfortunately, the date suggested is not feasible given the student-athlete calendar and time of year," Georgia athletic spokesperson noted. "However, we are appreciative of the invitation and look forward to other opportunities for Georgia teams moving forward."

After winning the 2021 national championship, Georgia did not attend a White House celebration due to Covid. Now, the back-to-back champions will miss another chance to visit Washington, this time because of the weird timing of having it take place in June.

UConn, who won the men's basketball national championship in early April has accepted an invitation and will be honored May 26. The LSU women's team will be celebrated on the same day as the Huskies for their national title win.

Timing Didn't Help Georgia Get To The White House

The timing is obviously weird, given that Georgia demolished TCU in January, giving them ample amount of time to schedule something for the Spring. If there was going to be a celebration for the consecutive winning champions, it should've been done sooner, not waiting until June.

According to the Athens Banner-Herald, a White House official told the paper in February that they were looking forward to hosting the Bulldogs. But, Georgia officials had not received an official invitation until May 3, which certainly complicated the matter.

Stetson Bennett #13 of the Georgia Bulldogs celebrates the Bulldogs victory over the TCU Horned Frogs during the College Football Playoff National Championship held at SoFi Stadium on January 9, 2023 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)

Before Covid, Clemson was honored on January 14 of 2019, just one week after defeating Alabama to win the national championship. In 2020, after winning the title on a Monday night, LSU was in Washington on January 17, five days after hoisting the trophy. In 2018, Alabama visited the White House to celebrate its title on April 10.

Also, there are a number of Georgia players who have now moved on to the NFL, so getting Stetson Bennett and others to commit to a June appearance would be a hassle. If the White House was also going to honor the 2021 Bulldogs, this would've been an even worse logistical nightmare.

So, if Georgia would like to take a visit to the White House in the next calendar year, they'll just have to win another title, for the third consecutive year.