A few weeks ago, ESPN’s Football Power Index turned heads by labeling Georgia’s 2026 slate the easiest in the SEC. That sounded strange at first for a program that usually lives with one of the toughest schedules in the country, but the preseason media poll released Friday helps explain why the Bulldogs landed there.
Georgia’s conference schedule is built around a soft-looking middle. Only three of its nine SEC games are against teams projected to finish in the top half of the league, which means six of those opponents are expected to sit in the bottom half of the standings.
Still, “easy” is doing a lot of work here.
ESPN’s schedule rankings still place Georgia’s slate 20th toughest in the country, and the hardest part is easy to spot. The Bulldogs face a brutal four-game run that starts with a road trip to Alabama and ends with another road game at Ole Miss. In between are rivalry games against Auburn and Florida, which figure to be just as demanding.
That’s the catch with the SEC: even the lower end of the league can punch above its weight. The middle of the conference is stronger than what most other leagues offer, and even the bottom teams are dangerous enough to spring an upset on any given Saturday. So while Georgia may have the easiest schedule in the SEC, that still doesn’t make it easy.
The media also came away from SEC Media Days with Georgia as the pick to win the conference again, and Vegas followed suit. Oddsmakers now have the Bulldogs favored over Texas in the SEC for the first time all offseason.
Georgia’s path helps explain that shift. The Bulldogs have a clearer route back to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game, while Texas has a far rougher climb.
The Longhorns’ schedule includes Tennessee, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, LSU and Texas A&M, plus a Week 2 matchup with Ohio State. That’s a gauntlet.
Georgia still has to handle its business, of course. But with the schedule in front of them and the preseason support behind them, the Bulldogs have positioned themselves as the team to beat in the SEC once again.
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Smart got Georgia to the national championship game in just his second season, and everything since has reinforced how far the program has moved under his watch. The Bulldogs have gone 26-4 against Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech during his tenure, won four SEC championships and reached the College Football Playoff five times, a stretch that has changed the standard in Athens even as the conversation around his era keeps finding new layers. [Read more 🡒]