Due to COVID-19 guidelines, Friday afternoon's Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between Cincinnati and Georgia will be witnessed by approximately 16,500 spectators inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Which still will provide Luke Fickell's undefeated Bearcats an environment they have yet to encounter.
"There is going to be an atmosphere," the Cincinnati coach said earlier this week. "Maybe they're booing us, but whatever it is, there will be a greater atmosphere, which gives us that much more excitement and joy to go out and compete. Whether they're cheering for you or not, the atmosphere is something that a lot of us have missed this entire football season.
"Maybe the South and the SEC has gotten a little bit more of the atmosphere judging by when we pop on those games, because even on TV you can feel it at 25% capacity. More up North, we have not had the opportunity to get some of those atmospheres this year."
Georgia fans have an impressive track record of gobbling up tickets to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, most notably in the 2017 Southeastern Conference championship win over Auburn and several weeks later in the overtime loss to Alabama in the title game of the College Football Playoff.
The backers of the Bulldogs also have been credited for producing one of the best atmospheres of the 2020 season, which transpired inside Sanford Stadium during a 27-6 drubbing of Auburn on Oct. 3. Georgia's three largest crowds this season have been its lone three games in Athens, against Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi State, with each having an announced attendance of 20,524.
"I would probably say the Auburn atmosphere would have been the best for us," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "It was at night and seemed to have the most crowd noise to it, but I expect this atmosphere to be great. You would think it might be louder in the dome with that number of people, because outside you figure the noise wouldn't be the same.
"I'm expecting it to be as good as we've played in anywhere in the dome, because it will seem more full than a 93,000-seat stadium with 20,000."
Georgia was ninth in the final CFP rankings this year, one spot behind Cincinnati.
The Bulldogs, who assembled a 7-2 regular season that contained double-digit losses to Alabama and Florida, are touchdown favorites against the 9-0 American Athletic Conference champions despite playing without four starters who elected to bypass the bowl - right guard Ben Cleveland, tight end Tre' McKitty, inside linebacker Monty Rice and cornerback Eric Stokes. Georgia is hopeful of having Richard LeCounte III back for the first time since the senior safety incurred a concussion during a Halloween motorcycle crash, but the Bulldogs were dealt another setback Tuesday when junior running back James Cook unexpectedly lost his father at the age of 46.
Cook, who has rushed 45 times for 303 yards (6.7 per carry) and has 16 receptions for 225 yards (14.1), quickly left for Miami to mourn the loss along with his older brother, Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook.
"He got a flight home with Dalvin and wanted to go home and be with his family, and we certainly understand that and support him," Smart said. "Everybody handles these things differently, and James was close to his dad. All the running backs have reached out to him, and I've spoken to him a couple of times.
"He's dealing with it the best he can."
Georgia's trip to the Peach Bowl follows two straight appearances in the Sugar Bowl and the memorable 2017 journey to the Rose Bowl national semifinal, where the Bulldogs defeated Oklahoma in double overtime. The Bulldogs have more appearances in New Year's Six bowls under Smart than Cincinnati has in its history, with current Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly having taken the Bearcats to the Orange Bowl in 2008 and the Sugar Bowl in 2009, where they were mauled by Florida 51-24 in Tim Tebow's college finale.
Fickell took over a program that struggled under Tommy Tuberville and produced a 4-8 debut year in 2017 before guiding the Bearcats to a 31-5 mark the past three seasons that includes two bowl wins.
"It's obviously different for our guys, because what they know is the Birmingham Bowl and the Military Bowl," Fickell said. "Even though we were at those bowls for longer, our guys definitely know that there is a difference, and that's what they're excited about. This is a reward, but the reward is to go play against one of the best teams in the country in their land."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.