4. Florida and Georgia will be the only teams in the East that finish with a winning record
No, this year’s SEC schedule isn’t any sort of a new normal.
It’s possible the league realizes the benefits of a ten-game conference slate, but going forward there’s no way everyone will ditch the layup games against Group of Five and FCS programs.
The financial side will work once the fans are allowed back in full. More to the point, teams are going to quickly be sick of pushing for 5-5 every year.
And this season will expose that.
Missouri isn’t bad. Stick it in the Big 12 and it might be pushing for the top four or even a spot in the conference title game. It wouldn’t be there with Clemson or Notre Dame, but it would certainly be a factor for a top five spot in the ACC.
Check out the Tiger schedule – find three wins, much less six.
Forget about Vanderbilt getting to six victories to have a winning season. Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee are all 7-5ish teams in normal times with their normal non-conference schedules, but this year all three will be fighting just to get to five wins.
– 2020 CFN SEC 5-Year Program Rankings
Florida and Georgia will be superstars, and while they could each be nailed on the wrong day – like the South Carolina game last year for the Dawgs, or the clunker against Mizzou for the Gators in 2018 – they should get through their East slates without too much of an issue.
And that’s the (potentially) stupid call.
Florida and Georgia will have winning records with ease, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee will all do enough to get to 5-5, and Missouri and Vanderbilt will fight the good fights to prepare for 2021.