SEC football: Grading Auburn, rest of league’s non-conference scheduling

Auburn football (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images)
Auburn football (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images) /
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Jake Fromm took Georgia to the CFP title game as a freshman last season. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Georgia

Like several other SEC football teams, Georgia has its built-in Power 5 opponent (Georgia Tech) and that’s a big advantage compared to two of the other teams in the East with ready-made Power 5 opponents in Florida (vs. FSU) and South Carolina (vs. Clemson). That’s not Georgia’s fault, but it’s nowhere near the difficulty level of those two East teams.

Future non-conference opponents

2018: Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee, UMass, Georgia Tech

2019: Murray State, Arkansas State, Notre Dame, at Georgia Tech

2020: Virginia (Atlanta), Louisiana-Monroe, Georgia Tech, East Tennessee State

2021: San Jose State, UAB, Georgia Tech

2022: Kent State, Georgia Tech

2023: at Georgia Tech, Indiana State

2025: at UCLA, at Georgia Tech

2026: UCLA, Georgia Tech

FlyWarEagle says: First off, give Georgia credit for scheduling two Power 5 opponents last season and in 2019 (Notre Dame and Georgia Tech) as well as down the road in 2025/2026 (UCLA, Georgia Tech). But if the Yellow Jackets don’t get better — the Bulldogs have won seven of the last nine meetings — then the schedule looks pretty bare in 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. It looks especially light when you take into account that the SEC East has been weak for years. Grade: B