The first sports teams to be invited to the White House were two amateur baseball teams in 1865. It quickly became a tradition amongst professional teams. In 1976, the Indiana Hoosiers Men’s Basketball team became the first collegiate visitors to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It has since become an annual tradition for collegiate champions to visit the President in the months after their title.
via: CNN
“The University of Georgia first received on May 3 an invitation for the Bulldog football team to visit the White House on June 12,” the statement read. “Unfortunately, the date suggested is not feasible given the student-athlete calendar and time of year. However, we are appreciative of the invitation and look forward to other opportunities for Georgia teams moving forward.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
The Bulldogs beat the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs 65-7 in January to take home the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy and end with a 15-0 perfect season.
The team did not visit the White House after its championship last year, nor did the Alabama Crimson Tide the year before, due to Covid-related reasons.
The Louisiana State University Tigers were the last championship football team to visit the White House in January 2020 – where former President Donald Trump joked about his first impeachment but did not provide the same viral buffet of fast food that awaited the 2018 champions, the Clemson Tigers.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden announced Monday the White House would be hosting the LSU Tigers women’s basketball team and the University of Connecticut Huskies men’s basketball team on May 26 for two ceremonies celebrating each team’s national championship title.
The invitation of the LSU women’s basketball team comes after high-profile criticism from team star Angel Reese after the first lady suggested that both LSU and second-place team University of Iowa should come to the celebratory ceremony. The first lady’s office later walked back her remarks.
