No. 2 Texas and No. 5 Georgia will be doing battle in Saturday’s SEC Championship Game, but one iconic mascot won’t get a chance to attend the festivities.
Bevo, who attends Texas football games, won’t be making the trip to Atlanta for the SEC title game.
“When we received the request for Bevo to be on the sideline in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, our staff looked at several alternatives including the sideline location,” the SEC said in a statement. “The reality is there is limited sideline space at the stadium. We can’t jeopardize the safety of Bevo or the game participants. With the narrow sidelines, location of multiple sets for television and camera carts, there is not enough space. While we want to honor tradition across the conference, the space limitation is a reality.”
According to an ESPN report, the size of a potential enclosure was the biggest reason that the SEC thought that Bevo XV couldn’t safely attend Saturday’s game. The bull weighs over 1,700 pounds and has a horn that is 58 inches. Bevo did travel to last season’s College Football Playoff, but the conference didn’t believe that Mercedes-Benz Stadium could safely house the iconic mascot.
Bevo’s handlers, The Silver Spurs, stated that he’s the “largest live mascot in college athletics.”
While Bevo won’t be in attendance in Atlanta, Georgia’s live mascot, Uga XI, will be making the short trip from Athens. Uga XI’s owner, Charles Seiler told the Austin American-Statesman that the Bulldog mascot wasn’t able to make the trip to Austin when the two teams faced off earlier this season. In addition, Uga XI also didn’t travel to Georgia’ away game against Kentucky this season.
Uga X was the bulldog that had an iconic encounter with Bevo back in 2019 when Bevo escaped from his pen and charged at the dog.
