Georgia Football Could Really End Up Profiting From A Possible 10-Game List From The SEC

07/30/2020 Sports


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A 10-game conference schedule could benefit Georgia football in 2020

On Wednesday, the ACC announced that it would play 10 conference games in the 2020 season, along with one non-conference game. The league joins Big Ten and Pac-12 to make adjustments to the 2020 calendar.

The SEC may not be far behind.

Conference presidents will meet Thursday, and the college football calendar is expected to appear at the meeting.

Georgia already had its schedule impacted on Wednesday, as the ACC schedule setup ended up canceling the Georgia-Virginia game, since the non-conference game is not played in Virginia’s home state. However, if Georgia and Georgia Tech played, that would be allowed under the ACC calendar model.

The ACC is the first conference to publicly announce that it is moving to a 10-game conference schedule for this upcoming season, although the Big Ten and Pac-12 are reported to be considering going into a 10-conference schedule template. games. The SEC has long been on an 8-game conference schedule, but that could also be changing.

Related: 3 big questions for the SEC: what (programming model), when (season start), who (opposing teams)

According to a report by Ross Dellenger from Sports Illustrated, the SEC is now considering a list of 10 conference-only games. That would take off non-conference games, like Georgia-Georgia Tech, and expand the Georgia SEC board in two games. Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports also reported that the league is considering two other models for the 2020 season that include a non-conference game.

In the model Dellenger reported, the league could add the following two cross division teams into the rotation of each respective team.

For Georgia, this could benefit the team compared to some of its SEC counterparts. Florida in particular would be one of the big losers.

Those two additional games would mean a home competition against Arkansas and a road game against the state of Mississippi. Both teams are working with first-year head coaches and are among the worst teams in the SEC West. Given that Georgia already has SEC West games against Alabama and Auburn, it’s a stroke of luck that the Bulldogs don’t match up with, say, LSU and Texas A&M.

Rivals Florida Gators, on the other hand, don’t take that same break. If the SEC added the next two teams in the rotation to Florida’s schedule, it would mean a home game against Alabama and a road game against Texas A&M. Both teams are in the top 15 to start the college football season, and many see each as potential contenders for the college football playoffs.

The Gators would also have SEC West contests against LSU and Ole Miss, as they were both on the original 2020 schedule. The schedule, specifically the differences in SEC West enemies, was the reason why many had Florida as a Attractive contender for the college football playoff.

It is worth noting once again that all of this is still speculative. The only time change for Georgia right now is that Virginia won’t play on September 7. As previously mentioned, the SEC could still go with an 8-game conference schedule and an off-conference game schedule. It could also follow the ACC model, which would likely appease SEC enemies who have games against ACC rivals in the state.

Related: ACC announces official changes to the 2020 soccer calendar

Another change ACC made, beyond getting Notre Dame to join the conference temporarily, is that the league will have no divisions this year. It still plans to play a conference title game on December 12 or December 19, but instead of being a contest between the winners of the Coastal and Atlantic Divisions, it will feature the teams with the best conference records.

If the SEC made the same decision, it would probably get some of the juice out of the Georgia-Florida game. It would still be a great rivalry game, and would issue another referendum on the Kirby Smart-Dan Mullen debate. But if it’s not for the SEC East, it’s a slightly less juicy game. It’s not as appealing to watch a game between the division’s top two teams if the result ends up putting Alabama and Texas A&M in the SEC championship game.

For years, there has been a public setback in the SEC that adds more conference games. While the likes of ACC, Pac-12 and Big 12 went to nine-game boards, the SEC insisted on staying in eight games. It made sense, given how difficult the SEC is compared to other leagues, and an extra non-conference game could be the difference between a bowl game and staying home in December.

But with three of the Power Five conferences going to conferences with heavy boards, the SEC may have its hand forced. During one season, the league can join the rest of college football, as it tries to have some uniformity with the sport.

For Georgia, this year could be the best to have a 10-game conference schedule. If it was 2018, when the Bulldogs might have had to play LSU, Auburn, Texas A&M, and Alabama under the proposed model, some would still be complaining about how conference officials had chosen the Bulldogs.

But it could end up helping Georgia, and especially end up hurting Florida. And for most Georgia fans, that could only make them agree to the 10-game schedule, for just one season.

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