The Most Adversely Affected Team by SEC Expansion is Actually Tennessee
In a previous post, Big T took a few minutes shitting on UGA's “easy” path over the last few seasons and then stated, and I quote, “No team may be more adversely affected by the additions of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC as well as the elimination of divisions than Georgia.” He whines that UGA hasn’t been to Tuscaloosa in a real season (COVID year aside) since 2007 and that the days of getting fat on South Carolina and Vanderbilt yearly are out the window without divisions.
Now, there is some truth in his blog. The Dawgs had a soft non-con in 2023. That ignores the fact they were scheduled to have the road portion of a home-and-home with Oklahoma start up this season, only for the SEC to tell them to scrap it with OU joining the conference. It also chooses to ignore that since the division format was implemented, UGA’s cross-match in the SEC West in Auburn. Tennessee’s is Alabama; that’s why you’ve been there for eight games losses since the Dawg's last “real” trip. It’s the same reason you’ve only been to Jordan-Hare once since 2007.
Is Alabama the superior team to Auburn? Yes, obviously. Unfortunately for Tennessee, we don’t pick our rivals. Auburn is a highly volatile program, but a program that has won a Natty and been to another in the 2010s. They are a national brand and a perennial Top-10 recruiter. And they have handed Alabama five losses in their matchups since 2007… four more than Tennessee has in that time frame.
Is it ridiculous you only play one team from the opposite division every season besides your cross-match? Absolutely. It’s absurd that Texas A&M has been in the conference since 2012, and the Dawgs have never visited College Station. But it’s not like their cross-match has been Mississippi State this whole time. (No offense to Brandon Walker.)
In the non-con, the Dawgs have actually always scheduled well. In the last half-decade (excluding the COVID year of no out-of-conference games), they have played Oregon, Clemson, and Notre Dame (home-and-home), all while having a game vs. a P5 Georgia Tech eating up another spot annually. (It’s not the Dawgs fault that GT has been in disarray since Paul Johnson stopped running the triple.)
In that same time span, Tennessee has played a home-and-home with Pitt, UVA, and BYU. That’s not even a comparison in difficulty and brand names.
But the claim about getting fat on the South Carolinas and Vanderbilts of the SEC East is straight-up comical. Bro, YOU’RE ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE DIVISION! You could and should be getting fat on those teams too! The reason the Dawg’s schedule has been easier than yours is that YOUR TEAM HAS SUCKED for the vast majority of the Kirby Smart Era. You have to play a title-contending Dawgs team every year. In the very same game, the Dawgs have to play what has been a laughingstock for much of a decade. That’ll tend to skew a strength of schedule.
The team that will be hurt most by the SEC additions of OU and Texas is actually Tennessee. They go from roughly the 6th best program in the division to 8th. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Texas, Oklahoma, A&M, and Florida are all better “programs” over the last decade-plus. That leaves Tennessee in the dead-ass middle of a 16-team conference.
So don’t worry about the Dawgs. As you said, 9-3 and 10-2 will get you to the Dance most years in the SEC. The question will be, how is Tennessee gonna get to 9?
Enjoy the middle tier of the SEC. I’m sure the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl will be a wonderful experience.