With the SEC possibly switching to a conference-only schedule in the fall, here’s what it may look like.
Despite the Big Ten announcing that it has cancelled all non-conference football games for the 2020 season, and with the ACC and Pac-12 expected to follow suit, as of date, neither the SEC or Big-12 conferences have made any indications they will follow the Big Ten lead.
Assuming the SEC and Big-12 decide later this month to transition to the conference-only model, what would Georgia’s possible schedule look like? The Bulldogs would need to replace non-conference games versus Virginia, East Tennessee State, Louisiana-Monroe and Georgia Tech.
As usual, Georgia has each of the other six SEC East teams on the schedule plus SEC West powers Alabama and Auburn. The Dawgs also have an October 24 open date which will provide some flexibility. Would it be possible to have a full 12-game schedule by adding four more SEC West teams?
Before we move on to manipulating the schedule, it would simplify things greatly if the SEC and ACC allowed each team to keep one inter-conference game on the schedule. This would preserve the Georgia- Georgia Tech game, Florida-Florida State, Clemson-South Carolina, the Mississippi State-NC State matchup, Auburn-North Carolina and Kentucky-Louisville contest, thus alleviating a logistical logjam in the scheduling process. Especially since most of these games are traditional, season-ending, in-state rivalries, team travel would be minimized and bring a sense of normalcy to the state of current events.
As of now, Georgia is to open with Virginia on September 7 in Atlanta’s Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic. Texas A&M is to host Abilene Christian and Ole Miss plays non-conference Baylor in Houston during Week 1. Let’s pencil in the Aggies for Atlanta, which would soften the loss of a home game for A&M by still being a significant payday and provide a much more entertaining contest. We need to save Ole Miss for later in the schedule.
On September 12, Georgia is scheduled to entertain East Tennessee State in Athens. Arkansas is travelling to Notre Dame that same afternoon for a non-conference game. Slot the Razorbacks in Sanford Stadium, which would be a more entertaining game for DawgNation and former Georgia offensive line coach Sam Pittman’s SEC coaching debut.
After Georgia’s September 19th game at Alabama, the Dawgs return to the Classic City and host Louisiana-Monroe on September 24. Mississippi State is scheduled to play non-conference Tulane in Starkville taht weekend. Starkville vs Athens? No brainer…Hail State travels to Sanford Stadium.
After three more consecutive conference games, Georgia has an open date during Week 8. Ole Miss is to host the American Athletic Conference’s UConn Huskies in Oxford on that Saturday. Instead, the Rebels travel to Athens for a date ‘Between the Hedges’.
The following week, Georgia travels to Jacksonville for the annual ‘Cocktail Party’ on October 28 and will end the regular season on November 21 in Kentucky.
That gives Georgia a full slate of 12 regular season games, including 6 home games and two neutral site contests. It will be strange to see Georgia Tech off the schedule, but as previously stated, maybe the SEC and ACC will be able to get together on a one-game exception for inter-conference scheduling.
Over the years, SEC and Georgia fans have been clamoring for more challenging schedules against Power 5 conference schools. Kirby Smart has greatly upgraded the future Georgia schedule – this would be a prelude to what fans can expect. Our proposed 2020 schedule would be loaded and present an array of weekly, compelling matchups. In addition, with the possibility of fans being excluded from the stadiums, television will need marquee matchups to keep regional and national audiences tuned in. It’s possible that two 9-3 teams could meet in the SEC championship game.
Here’s our proposed 2020 schedule.
Sept. 7 Texas A&M (Atlanta)
Sept. 12 Arkansas
Sept. 19 @ Alabama
Sept. 26 Mississippi State
Oct. 3 Vanderbilt
Oct. 10 Auburn
Oct. 17 @ Missouri
Oct. 24 Ole Miss
Oct. 31 Florida (Jacksonville)
Nov. 7 @ South Carolina
Nov. 14 Tennessee
Nov. 21 @ Kentucky
