Georgia Mascot Uga Not Traveling to National Championship in L.A.

The team’s beloved bulldog mascot is in his eighth year with the team.

The Georgia football team will look to claim its second straight national championship this upcoming Monday at SoFi Stadium, but it seems the program will be without its beloved mascot, Uga, when the game kicks off. 

According to reporter Adam Murphy, Uga X—also known as Que—won’t be able to make the lengthy trip across the country to Los Angeles. The Seiler family, which has long bred the iconic bulldogs that have served as Georgia’s mascots over the years, told Murphy that the trip is just too long for the nine-year-old bulldog to undergo.

As a result, Uga will be cheering on his fellow Bulldogs from back at home. 

Thankfully for Georgia, Uga was on hand to watch the defending national champions this past weekend as they took on Ohio State in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The Bulldogs outlasted the Buckeyes in a thriller at Mercedes Benz Stadium, advancing to the title game for the second year in a row with a 42–41 victory

Awaiting Georgia in the national championship is TCU, which upset Michigan in the earlier College Football Playoff semifinal on New Year’s Eve. The Horned Frogs have made an improbable run to the title game in their first season under Sonny Dykes and now sit just one win away from hoisting the championship trophy. 

Without Uga in the building, Georgia will take on TCU in the College Football Playoff on Monday in SoFi Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. ET.


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Zach Koons
ZACH KOONS

Zach Koons is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about Formula One. He joined SI as a breaking/trending news writer in February 2022 before joining the programming team in 2023. Koons previously worked at The Spun and interned for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He currently hosts the "Bleav in Northwestern" podcast and received a bachelor's in journalism from Northwestern University.