How daunting is Georgia’s cross-division schedule this year?

David Wunderlich breaks it down and finds it’s the SEC’s toughest.

The Worst: Georgia

The Bulldogs wound up with Alabama and Auburn, a pair of teams that will appear in far more preseason top tens than they won’t. AU is getting some early buzz as a playoff contender, and Bama, whatever its present deficiencies, has hauled in several consecutive No. 1 recruiting classes.

Unless I’m massively wrong about something somewhere—which is always possible—UGA stands alone with the toughest cross-division schedule.

And that could be bad news in the bigger picture.

The Takeaways

The cross-division scheduling could end up deciding the East division. If you take it, as I currently do, as it being a two-horse race between Georgia and Missouri, Mizzou drawing Mississippi State while UGA gets Bama and Auburn is a big advantage for the Tigers. If Missouri beats MSU while Georgia goes 0-2 against the West, UGA would have to sweep its East games to be assured of a berth to Atlanta regardless of what Mizzou does. If the Tigers beat the West Bulldogs and win the tiebreaker over the East Bulldogs, it’ll be incredibly tough for Georgia to win the division.

That being said, and taking nothing away from what should be a salty Auburn squad, it’s not as if Georgia has struggled mightily with the Plainsmen of late.  Cam Newton overpowered the Dawgs and then there’s the game with the play of which we shall speak no further.  But other than those, Georgia has pretty much controlled the series over the past few years.

Right now, put me down for Georgia going no worse than 1-1 against the West in 2015.

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Ed Aschoff drinks deeply from the red and black Kool-Aid.

After reading this, I don’t want anybody accusing me of being overly optimistic about Georgia’s chances this season.  Ed Aschoff has set the benchmark:

• “Yes, you heard it here first: The SEC will win the national championship in January 2016. Who it will be, well, that’s not for me to say right now because it’s May and I reserve the right to make you all sweat. My favorites are Auburn and Georgia; we’ll just leave it at that.”
• “Missouri won’t win three straight SEC Eastern Division titles: Now, Tigers fans, I know you have a hate-hate sentiment toward me, but I honestly just see a few more concerning holes on this team. There is no Shane Ray or Markus Golden waiting in the wings at defensive end. The receivers are athletic, but very unproven, and there’s been too much movement and uncertainty at left tackle. I think Maty Mauk will be better, but I think Georgia takes care of business this year, unlike last season.”
• “Dominick Sanders will lead the SEC in interceptions…”
• “Nick Chubb will win the Heisman Trophy: He made eight starts last season. He rushed for more than 100 yards in all of those starts. He finished the season second in the SEC with 1,547 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. He averaged 7.1 yards per carry. He’s the best running back in the country and will be even better as the Bulldogs’ full-time starter.”

As a topper, he predicts ‘Bama won’t win ten games this season, in part because it faces a tough road game in Athens.

I’m not going there.  Which isn’t to say I wouldn’t take it.  But, yeah, I’m not going there.

Australian for bowl game

Meet Paul Sergeant, CEO of Melbourne Stadiums Limited, who is part of a group proposing to host a bowl game at Etihad Stadium in Australia next season, featuring teams from the Pac-12 and Mountain West.

It’s a group with a unique sales pitch.

While the other bowls pay the participating school or conference between a few hundred thousand to several million dollars for their appearance, the Australia bowl would not pay the schools or conferences any money. However, it would cover all expenses instead. Sergeant also said his bowl would not require ticket commitments from each school.

“The key element is there’s no risk for the conference or the teams,” Sergeant said.

Throw in some ESPN bucks, and it’s probably a better deal for schools than some other bowl games.

Who knows?  As a bonus, the coaches could spend a little time on the trip scouting for punters.

Tales from the Department of Redundancy Department

I was gonna call this a nice Nick Chubb story, and then I realized all Nick Chubb stories are nice.