Nobody can accuse Georgia of taking it easy in the non-conference scheduling in the coming years. But Georgia Athletics Director Greg McGarity has hinted in an interview the school is looking to improve the attractiveness of Georgia regular season schedules down the line.
On top of an eight-game SEC schedule and an annual rivalry matchup with Georgia Tech, Georgia currently has future scheduling agreements with UCLA (2025-2026), Texas (2028-2029), and Clemson (2029-2030). Georgia is also currently scheduled for neutral site showdowns with Virginia (2020), Oregon (2022), and Clemson (2024) in Atlanta. The Bulldogs also host Notre Dame this September in the second half of a home-and-home series that was initiated two seasons ago in South Bend, Indiana. But Georgia may have more in the works. A possible arrangement with Florida State has been floating around the rumor mill recently, and that would be fantastic if it comes to be.
But those scheduling tidbits add just one more game against a power five opponent each year on top of the 8 SEC games and a rivalry game with Georgia Tech. McGarity suggested in an interview with Dawg Nation that Georgia would prefer to mold a scheduling strategy that consists of the eight SEC games, a game against Georgia Tech, and two more games against a Power 5 opponent with one game left to schedule a non-power conference opponent. How soon we see that philosophy put on the calendar remains to be seen considering how far in advance schedules are being booked, although it is worth noting Georgia has that model in place for the 2029 season. Georgia is scheduled to host Texas and play at Clemson that September and at Georgia Tech at the end of the season. As it stands right now, the 2029 season is the only season that fulfills the kind of scheduling McGarity suggested Georgia wants to pursue.
The SEC currently requires all conference members to schedule one game against another opponent form a power conference (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, or Pac-12 with a few noted exceptions on the books like Notre Dame). Georgia always fulfills that requirement with their annual game against Georgia Tech, but that has not stopped Georgia from pursuing other challenges in regular season play. And if this comment from McGarity is any indication, the Bulldogs are not about to back down from any threat of having a weak non-conference schedule in the playoff era. There is certainly a risk to scheduling more games against tougher competition, but that could only end up making Georgia a stronger program or allow them to have more of a benefit of the doubt when it comes time for the selection committee to make some decisions with the playoff field.
It may not silence some critics from attacking Georgia for scheduling a game against an FCS opponent (criticism plenty of schools will routinely face), but this is a pretty bold objective for Georgia. Whether or not more schools follow Georgia’s lead is probably doubtful, but this would be nice to see become a trend in college football scheduling.