Georgia hosts Alabama this week. That occasion means another chance for the DawgNation team to Huddle around and dissect the finer points of the biggest game of the year up to this point.
However, that wasn’t the only big news this week. The SEC dropped major news this week, releasing the three permanent opponents for each school, as well as the annual rotation among the rest of the conference.
Did the SEC throw the Dawgs a bone? Or did the folks in that shiny office in Downtown Birmingham do Kirby Smart’s program wrong?
The DawgNation crew all got on the same page with a few thoughts on that news cycle this week, too.
How should DawgNation feel about the new permanent opponents on the SEC schedule?
Brandon Adams: Happy
Why: The SEC’s traditional rivalries make the league special. The new schedule preserves the Cocktail Party and the Deep South’s Oldest. That’s about as good as one could ask for.
Mike Griffith: Fine
Why: Georgia’s most historic rivalry games were protected, in terms of maintaining Florida and Auburn as annual opponents, and the South Carolina draw was in line with the SEC prioritizing geographical convenience. With six opponents rotating annually, Georgia will play every team in the league every two years, anyway, so the annual nature of the games doesn’t carry the same importance as it did in division play (1992-2023), when teams played the same six divisional foes each year, kept one traditional rival from the opposite division (for UGA, Auburn), and rotated the other out-of-division game.
Kaylee Mansell: Acceptable
Why: I think we all assumed that it was always going to be Florida and Auburn for two of the three rivalries to preserve tradition. However, in getting South Carolina, this is really good for the fans from a geographical perspective. I believe when the new schedules are released, UGA will play some really faraway games, so having an opponent that makes travel easier for the fans should be considered a win.
Connor Riley: Good
Why: You get to keep playing Florida and Auburn. While Kentucky, especially in a world where it is likely to spend more on basketball and less on football, would have been an easier matchup, Georgia should still have plenty of advantages against South Carolina. Not playing Tennessee annually will certainly disappoint those in the northern part of the state, especially given how Georgia has dominated the matchup of late.
Jeff Sentell: Mixed reviews
Why: The Auburn and Florida traditions had to be preserved. Otherwise, the tone of our panel would have been quite salty. The fan feedback I’ve heard says DawgNation would rather see Tennessee than South Carolina, but that makes it harder to maintain parity. That would have given the Dawgs three teams that recruit, spend and game plan to make the 12-team playoff. Florida (Kentucky, South Carolina, UGA) and LSU (Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M) only have one permanent opponent that hires its coach to win the SEC or else. The Vols also got a very friendly permanent trio in Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. It’s almost impossible to make things equal when some programs don’t have the traditional rivalries that others do.
