The specifics for Georgia:
- 9/8 – at Missouri
- 9/22 – Vanderbilt
- 9/29 – Tennessee
- 10/6 – at South Carolina
- 10/20 – at Kentucky
- 10/27 – Florida (at Jacksonville)
- 11/3 – Ole Miss
- 11/10 – at Auburn
Other points of interest:
- South Carolina drew LSU and Arkansas from the West.
- Florida plays South Carolina the week before the Cocktail Party. Wow.
- Vanderbilt, like Georgia, misses the Big 3 from the West.
- Tennessee plays three East opponents in November, adding Missouri.
- Pity Ole Miss: at Alabama, at Arkansas, at Georgia and at LSU.
And maybe I’m missing something, but it looks like the conference was able to preserve all the historical rivalries for 2012.
*************************************************************************************
UPDATE: Here are the first strength of schedule rankings for 2012 I’ve seen.
I’m okay with that.
Get The Picture 
Well that’ll be one steaming pile of home games, for sure.
Buffalo, FAU, Vandy, UT, Ole Miss, GA Southern, and Tech.
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McGarity sure learned from the scheduling master, didn’t he? Best get used to it.
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The real genius in the schedule is somewhat hidden. How brilliant is it to schedule Georgia Southern’s triple option attack as a tuneup the week before Georgia Tech’s?
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I’ve mentioned that before. It’s a brilliant move.
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Sorry, must have missed that. I think the real fun will come after the Tech game when we debate which team was actually better.
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Zing!
CPJ would punch you in the mouth for that.
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Word is that he has taken up with a mariachi band in El Paso.
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Word really is he signed up to be a sidewalk Speedy Gonzalez for a Tex-Mex restaurant.
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Let hope he also falls for Felina.
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Meanwhile, the Big Ten and PAC 12 have created a football equivalent to the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/sports/ncaafootball/pac-12-and-big-ten-announce-scheduling-partnership.html
Rumor is Mike Slive is working to have a similar challenge with the Sun Belt Conference…with the Southern Conference as a backup plan.
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That’s okay. The SEC plays the best teams from the rest of the country every January. So far, they’ve won 5 in a row, and are pretty much guaranteed a 6th win coming up. 😉
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now that’s gonna leave a mark.
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Russ; Sorry bout your mis, quote, but U did U know!!
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The stink coming from the home schedule is not entirely Georgia’s fault. There’s no excuse for UT and Ole Miss to be in the shape they’re in. Maybe they shouldn’t be world-beaters, but they should at least be competent every year.
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I could give a rat’s ass. We all saw what playing a ridiculously tough schedule got us in 2008 and 2009. Just win baby.
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Exactly. This type of schedule got Florida a National Title. If it does the same for us, I couldn’t give two shits about our home schedule.
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Actually, no. In the three years that Florida won the national title, the Mighty Gators played the #1 toughest schedule in 1996, the #1 schedule in 2006 and feel all the way back to the #2 toughest schedule in 2008.
Florida does not whine about playing tough schedules.
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No. Florida fans do–just whine that is.
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No we don’t. We leave whining about tough schedules to UGA fans. As well as bragging about easy schedules.
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I think that was more a result of the SEC schedule.
06 OOC- Southern Miss, UCF, Western Carolina, FSU (none ranked)
08 OOC- Hawaii, The U, THE Citadel, FSU (only FSU ranked, #24)
I wouldn’t whine either.
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Paul– Just how dat do dat bring lots of home games? OR more than 7; or are you meaning some Bsides Bulldawgs or GA?
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The eternal rule of schedules is that at least a couple of the teams you play will be signifcantly better than anticipated and a couple will be significantly worse. With that being said this is the first time I have ever felt that IF Georgia is truly a championship caliber team in 2012 they should attain an undefeated regular season. This is that easy of a schedule.
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At first glance that appears so, but don’t forget that teams get better as the season progresses. I can also remember playing Ga Sou. and UAB early in a season and getting the greatest number of injuries (high ankle sprains seemed infectious) from those two games that required us to cross-train and substitute quite a bit afterwards. Can’t argue the easy schedule ranking, but things change to influence rankings later.
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I’d venture to say all five road trips are more attractive than each of the 7 home games. Mizzou for the novelty. USC for East supremacy. UK for the ponies. Jax and Auburn for obvious reasons. There is no excuse if we don’t make a return trip to the dome. Hopefully we can muster up two halves for the best of the West.
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“Mizzou for the novelty…”
Novelty nothing! Let’s hope Andy Williams is playing Branson the first week of this September!
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Better yet muster up two first strings on each side of the ball. Seems to work for LSU>
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South Carolina goes from getting us early and barely ever breaking a sweat to playing 3 conference games before we meet and look at there schedule starting with the game with us … at LSU & UF …
Aug. 30: at Vanderbilt
Sept. 22: MISSOURI
Sept. 29: at Kentucky
Oct. 6: GEORGIA
Oct. 13: at LSU
Oct. 20: at Florida
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Given that they can’t beat a crappy Auburn on their own field, that schedule may prove too much.
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If GA has MNC aspirations for ’12, it will be important to start the season in the top 10 and basically run the table because that strength (sic) of schedule will provide no help in the computer polls or the human ones for that matter.
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Add in the SEC CG and our schedule will be enough.
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Not if they have a loss, which was my point. That schedule coupled with GA not having played in BCSCG (such as UA, LSU, UF) and the growing SEC backlash after #6 will require them to be perfect next year. Whereas in previous years a one loss SEC team would get the benefit of the doubt. That is not likely to happen with a one loss GA team next year.
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Maybe we should paint the field blue.
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Any unbeaten SEC team has to have the benefit of the doubt over another team anywhere in the land.
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+2
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… as long as they’re ‘Bama, LSU or Florida…
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Hard to know what that means for UGA since we’ve not gone unbeaten since 1980.
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Unbeaten being the key word in this case.
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Buffalo’s long-snapper is one of the best in the nation, and don’t even get me started on the speed of the kick-off teams for FAU….
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Slow down AusDawg85…Let’s just worry about Buffalo right now… and how is the rest of their kicking game. Dang, already getting worried!
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Exactly! An undefeated Buffalo squad makes me a little nervous.
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My God! The dreaded long snapper. Can Vince guest-coach for that one? And FAU is so fast they won’t give us a chance to catch it? Is it a foul if they are standing with our fair-catcher and whisper into his ear before he catches it? Lord, I’m really worried about the panic that will cause on kickoff. Whatever are we to do?
Keep scout’en’um AusDawg. We gotta get ahead of this.
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Swish!
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Looks like the bye before FU went bye-bye.
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We got screwed! But seriously, I agree with charlottedawg – this schedule is tailor-made to run the table.
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I know it’s been brought up plenty before now, but It’s strange now that Arky is considered one ot the ‘Big 3’ from the West, and AU isn’t. What a switch for those on the Plain. I wonder how long they’ll be content with that – it doesn’t look to get better for them anytime soon (though losing Roof was a good start towards recovery).
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Maybe they’ll hire Kevin Ramsey.
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That would be deliciously wonderful. He and Trooper together again!!
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Just hope that the dawgs get everyone back and healthy and make the most of this schedule.
2012 starts in Tampa.
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Right, Tampa is key to our 2012 preseason ranking, which is key to our prospects for getting in the MNC game. If I’m Richt, I’m selling that hard this week.
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If I’m Richt I’d lobby hard to be outside of the preseason top 25 and would never ever ever mention the words “national” and “championship” within ten words of eachother. I’d play the LSU 2nd half on repeat and show highlights of the #1 ranked Dawgs against Bama from 2008.
Dawg fans are reasonable in talking about winning the east. Dawg fans are not if they think we are able (yet) to beat bama or LSU.
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I don’t think it’s unreasonable to speculate. Of course, it’s ridiculously early to do it.
However, say we win the East and one of those two wins the West. Alabama will likely lose at least 7 defensive starters to graduation or the NFL. They will lose Trent Richardson to the NFL. LSU will likely lose at least 5 defensive starters and their top 2 quarterbacks after this year. UGA will likely lose only 2 defensive starters. We don’t have any juniors (except perhaps Jones, who insists he’s staying) with the draft stock of the juniors from LSU & Bama who are expected to go pro. It’s possible that we don’t lose any juniors from our defense.
So, our defense was comparable to the best in the West this year. Just a tick behind, but still comparable. I would be surprised if we didn’t hit December of next year at least even with the defense of the Western champ.
With key losses to skill personnel for each of the Western contenders, we could have an offense that is better than theirs.
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remembering the usual national media approach to UGA, here’s the narrative for 2012: “UGA is a pretender who backed into the SECC in 2011 after playing a weak regular season schedule, including losses to the only two decent teams they played, and who got exposed by LSU in the title game. 2012 promises to be more of the same.”
I guess that’ll be it until we show them otherwise.
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And that is the point, just win baby. All this talk of easy schedules in the SEC when the Big10/11/12, ACC, Big 12, Big East, and PAC12 exist is silly. No one knows the teams yet, much less who will be healthy, or available, for certain games yet. And, since when does Arkansas become a beast? They have zero SEC titles in 20 years and had to come from behind, desperately, to beat Vandy and TAMU this past year.
There is no way to avoid playing quality teams in the SEC and earning your title on the field against the best in the West when you make it to Atlanta. All this nonsense about “easy” is just that, nonsense. I liked our chances in 2012 before I saw any schedule but will be apprehensive before each of those games as UGA approaches them. It is true not playing LSU and Bama appears to be favorable next year, but it is also to their advantage to avoid us in the 2012 regular season.
Right now I just want us to kick MSU’s butt in Tampa. Let the delusional Cock fans whine all they want and concede the East to us, I just wish their Coach felt the same way.
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+1 Senior.
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So sorry bout how ‘MSU & UGA’ Turned out; Someone needs to hire a ST Coach..!!
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Hell, I’ll take it and smile! If bammer can loose their way into a MNC game and we can get the big ol’ shaft by doing the same thing in ’07, then I’ll take all the schedule breaks I can get. Not to mention the respectable OOC games we’ve played over the last few seasons. Take care of business and get back to Atl and see what happens!
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Who made SC so damn weak for next year? Don’t see it. Lattimore and Clowney will be back and better. They ain’t gonna lay down in Columbia just because we have a weak schedule. You can look at it and hope for 12 wins, but realistically we will play them one at the time with due consideration that an Appalachian St- Mich game is around any corner. We can poke and jab at Dooley-Tenn, but they aren’t going to walk out on the field and say,” Let’s lose one to the Dawgs”. Don’t think that Auburn will heal anytime soon or at least until they find out who they really have for a coach. FU actually still thinks we lucked into beating them this year and will carry that delusion until halftime of the Jax game. Who’s to say they won’t be better next year? Their recruiting doesn’t seem to have suffered.
Nope, the worst thing we have to guard from is the weak part of the fan base that can’t sustain through any defeat without trying to carve up the staff and eat their young. And some of them aren’t happy that we have a weak schedule and they look to use it to bash anybody they perceive as being imperfect through this year. Any set of downturns in players’s performances and there is a ready-made storm of controversy raging over the coaches. Some of those jerks think they created Grantham and we won this year in spite of Bobo and Richt. They haven’t gone away and they will perch like buzzards to feed on any game carrion left at the feet of certain coaches and players. The chance of the “fair-weathers” to do more damage than a loss in a perceived “easy” schedule is greater to this team and the future than anything else imaginable.
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Oh,yeah! The truth plainly spoken!
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Lattimore is coming off reconstructive knee surgery. I don’t think he’ll be better. Still, South Carolina should have a stout defense. They’ll be tough.
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I’m with you. His North South running may get back this season but those cuts going East West are a year away! Yes they are! Bouncing it outside will be a step slower this coming season. With the speed we have at LB that could be fatal.
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Stop reading “Jorts and Hominy”!
As the Bernmeister says….. “Haters gonna hate”.
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Nothing we can do about the conference schedule. As for the OOC, well we see the Gatorization of Georgia football. I guess there are plusses and minuses.
Regardless of how we are playing, I suspect we will start to see the effects when there are more embarrassing empty seats for the thriller with one of those Florida directional schools. 😉
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“well we see the Gatorization of Georgia football. I guess there are plusses and minuses”
Would that include a MNC?
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The Schedule appears on paper to favor the Dawgs in the SEC East battle.
However, It Is still an SEC schedule & on any given saturday, Etc. Go Dawgs.
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Never underestimate our influence
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If we don’t fix our running game and special teams problems, the schedule won’t matter.
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Certainly looks like Richt is doing his best to fix both of those problems.
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Adam!!;; Just what do U mean “Doing His Best” to fix both? have not seen where anyone has been hired as a ST Coach yet, and does a ST Coach also take care of the running game also?
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Upon further review of the SOS rankings, isn’t #11 a lot closer to #14 than it is to #1? You think anybody will be giving half a crap about LSU’s schedule if they were to run the table again next year? All we’ll hear about is almighty LSU.
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Beat MSU and beat them solidly. Beat the hell out of the schedule next year. Beware of Ga Southern (ask Alabama)…kill, kill, kill them all and hire Boise State’s promotional genius.
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