SEC drops Bama, adds Missouri for UGA’s new 2012 schedule
TAMPA — If Georgia does not repeat as Southeastern Conference Eastern Division champions in 2012, it will not have the schedule to blame.
The SEC on Wednesday finally released its new football schedules for next season and the Bulldogs made out well. They dropped the Oct. 6 game at Alabama and picked up a road game against new conference member Missouri in Columbia, Mo., on Sept. 8. Meanwhile, UGA’s traditional SEC opener against South Carolina was moved back to Oct. 6. That game will also be on the road, as originally scheduled.
The only other change for the Bulldogs was their game at Kentucky, originally scheduled for Oct. 13, moves back one week. That will eliminate what was originally an off week before the Florida game. However, the Gators also lose their off week before playing the Bulldogs, so neither team has an advantage.
Georgia’s non-conference opponents of Buffalo (Sept. 1), Florida Atlanta (Sept. 15), Georgia Southern (Nov. 17) and Georgia Tech (Nov. 24) remain the same.
“I don’t think anybody in this conference has an easy schedule,” Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity said Wednesday. “We have nothing to base a road game to Missouri on. There’s no question going to Columbia, Mo., is going to be a tremendous challenge. just like Florida going to Texas A&M is going to be. I know within our building nobody is thinking there’s anything easy about our schedule.”
Bulldogs coach Mark Richt declined comment on the new slate. “I think the focus should be this game and that’s what we’re going to be focued on,” he said. “I don’t want to get too far down the road. Let’s finish up this season and we’ll talk about those things in the future.”
McGarity said it’s important to note that Georgia is not replacing Alabama with Missouri. The Bulldogs simply are keeping Auburn as their traditional rival from the West and had to honor their return game with Ole Miss after playing the Rebels in Oxford last season.
It should also be noted that the new schedule, revamped to accommodate new conference members Missouri and Texas A&M, is intended for just one year. The SEC will reconvene in the spring to look at schedules for 2013 and beyond.
“The SEC transition team and our athletic directors did a great job with significant logistical challenges in a short time frame in developing the 2012 football conference schedule,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said. “The ability to come together for the conference is what makes the SEC so strong and that was evident yet again in this process.”
Said McGarity: “The entire scheduling process was difficult and the transition team led by the SEC office had to deal with some very difficult scheduling challenges and formats. That’s why it took a long time to make it through.”
McGarity remains skeptical that the league would go to nine conference games.
“It really restricts scheduling flexibility to do that, especially when it comes to traditional rivals and having a seven-game home schedule,” McGarity said. “That’s going to be very difficult to do.”
Georgia’s players were essentially oblivious to the changes.
“I really don’t pay attention to any of it,” sophomore linebacker Jarvis Jones said. “We just watch film, look at the personnel and line up and play. We can’t help who we play. We don’t make the schedule. So we just go out there any chance we get and try to make the best of it.”
Said fellow linebacker Alec Ogletree: “I didn’t know anything about it. I’m still trying to focus on this year and getting this last game over with. I’ll worry about next year when it’s time to.”
Here’s how the new slate looks:
2012 GEORGIA FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
- Sept. 1 Buffalo
- Sept. 8 at Missouri
- Sept. 15 Florida Atlantic
- Sept. 22 Vanderbilt
- Sept. 29 Tennessee
- Oct. 6 at S. Carolina
- Oct. 13 OPEN
- Oct. 20 at Kentucky
- Oct. 27 vs. Florida in Jacksonville
- Nov. 3 Ole Miss
- Nov. 10 at Auburn
- Nov. 17 Georgia Southern
- Nov. 24 Georgia Tech
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,129 comments Add your comment
Joey
December 28th, 2011
6:39 pm
Lets handle Mich.St first, there gunna be a hand full. And then, you guys best be ready for Mizzou. I assure you they will be…….
Arx Ferrum
December 28th, 2011
6:39 pm
BTW… I am more than happy to welcome both Texas A&M and Mizzou to the SEC. I think it will eventually lead to another conference subdivision. But that being said… we have to find a way to leave the silly rankings behind and get back to wins & losses. You can’t win a conference on style points and you can’t get to a bowl game on wins alone. That kind of crap has to stop.
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:39 pm
Chris
It’s a joke from a few weeks ago about twinkles.
Idiot Dawg
December 28th, 2011
6:39 pm
Breaking news story: UGA will not be required to play any of its schedules 2012 football games as they are too easy. Story reported by Balaama fans
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
6:40 pm
Chris you said you a 13 so i figure you got twinkies in the house. At the Texas State fair they FRY any and everything. Snickers, Butter, and Twinkies.
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:41 pm
Chris
You don’t like twinkles?
C’mon man…..
aon
December 28th, 2011
6:43 pm
I can’t wait for the Ga Southern game! Go Eagles!
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
6:43 pm
That is like not liking Frozen then fried then dipped in chocolate covered Bananas.
RGB
December 28th, 2011
6:44 pm
Too bad UGA can only play the Chanticleers once per season.
Joemac
December 28th, 2011
6:45 pm
Well, it appears that the puppy doggs get another cupcake, crip schedule for 2012. So does Vandy. Watch out for Missouri and S. Carolina. One of those 2 will be the East champion in 2012. Anyway, what did they get with this season’s cupcake schedule??? I will tell you what. They got their coach a fat raise, and they got their butts kicked by LSU. They were the 5th best team in the conference this season, and were outclassed by a much superior team, and please, do not give me the garbage about dropped passes. That would have just made the final score look a little better. Winning the EAST by squeaking by Tennessee, Miss. St., Florida, Vandy, and a woeful Kentucky team, did not mean to imply that they could hang with the big boys. It did imply that the EAST was EASY this year. 2012 will be almost the same, except add a strong Missouri to the mix, and another loss to USC east. One thing will not change, however… they still will not be able to compete on even terms with the top 3 teams on the West.
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:45 pm
Pick 6 holy Toledo!
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
6:45 pm
aon the problem is that jaybo is gone and Ga Southern will have a rough time next year with a new starting QB.
Damn Pick 6 my Air Force by 4 is starting to scare me.
Hahaha the announcer said “balls across the middle”!
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:47 pm
Smart
Likes to dip Roseanne Bar in chocolate!
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
6:49 pm
RGB…………..the players didn’t know what/who a Chanticleer is. Well, Richt saw a teaching moment. Richt had the Water girl go buy 100 or so Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales coloring books and gave them to the team. When the players were done they turned them in to their professors for extra credit. LOL
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:49 pm
Still@the Rose -AnnE BAR
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
6:50 pm
No doing my Dinning at the Rosie McDonald’s. It is FAT but it is Tight. How is that for your visual tonight?
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:51 pm
Nice run down to the goal line!
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:52 pm
Two all beef paties!
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
6:53 pm
there isn’t much D in this game but it is fun to see the offenses running the field.
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:53 pm
I guess Chris really hates twinkles!
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
6:54 pm
When you drop the Brazier you get 2 big ole Pancakes too.
mark
December 28th, 2011
6:54 pm
its about time uga, like every other team in country, except lsu, play a bullcrap ooc schedule….obviously voters dont care….just schedule cupcakes ooc & win sec & u get in the bcs champ game…..
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
6:55 pm
i bet that Air Force player thinks he is SUPERMAN not batman.
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:55 pm
TD
35 all
Blackoutanyone?
December 28th, 2011
6:55 pm
Dawg48… Your comparison of the UGA Divison II schedule and Alabama’s is comical at best. Bama will face 3 and maybe 4 opponents as good if not better than the best team on that joke of a schedule UGA faces. Michigan (Dallas) @Arky @LSU Texas A&M compared to @USCe.
I get that the SEC makes the schedules and not UGA but for you, other UGA fans and the school’s AD to come out and try to defend that sorry schedule is a complete joke.
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:56 pm
Wow the AIR FORCE band sounds out of tune!
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
6:57 pm
mark…………..how did playing those cupcakes work out for Murray and UGA in 2010? O’Leary wouldn’t mine being a regular basis.
Damn needed that Fumble. I need to get ahead by a TD to feel good about AF winning.
SLCDawg
December 28th, 2011
6:57 pm
So it’s somehow UGA’s fault that auburn Tennessee florida and tech aren’t that good?
Blackoutanyone?
December 28th, 2011
6:58 pm
mark… Bama has played FSU, Clemson, VT and Penn State twice the past 5 years. Opens with Michigan. If you can’t run with the big dawgs stay on the porch… or play Georgia Southern
Heather Neeley
December 28th, 2011
6:59 pm
@ “A person SMART enough to know…… ” First of all, Mr. Smarty, an ellipsis is only 3 dots (. . .), NOT 6. Cupcake is ONE WORD, not two. You would have been better off in this department had you attended UGA. I LOVE the schedule and the education! Thank you, UGA! GO DAWGS!
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
6:59 pm
Blackout
The out of conference schedule for bama is not ant better than UGA’s!
Thats what I’m referring to. And you can’t say there is not much of a difference.
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
7:00 pm
48 that is just all the PBR and beef jerky affecting your ears. I bet you are playing the TUBA right along with them. LMAO
WestOfAthens
December 28th, 2011
7:01 pm
5 (five) games in September
That’s what stands out to me
Ken
December 28th, 2011
7:02 pm
C O W A R D S
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
7:02 pm
Blackoutanyone?
December 28th, 2011
6:58 pm
mark… Bama has played FSU, Clemson, VT and Penn State twice the past 5 years. Opens with Michigan. If you can’t run with the big dawgs stay on the porch… or play Georgia Southern
Didn’t bama play GA southern this year?
Ken
December 28th, 2011
7:02 pm
YEAH DUMBO EARS IS WORKING HIS MAGIC, SEE IF THE COUNTRY RESPECTS A DAMN THING YOU DO
Cream Puff Schedule
December 28th, 2011
7:03 pm
UGA, what a cream puff schedule! You should go join the ACC with such a weak, sorry Schedule!
Blackoutanyone?
December 28th, 2011
7:03 pm
SLCDawg… it’s not. It is however at best disingenuous on the part of your AD to say “I know within our building nobody is thinking there’s anything easy about our schedule.” Or that he felt they had to “honor” a return game with Ole Sis while other games such as UF vs Aubarn were lost.
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
7:04 pm
Heather……it is not an ellipsis. It is an extended break to let you know who I am speaking to like using @Heather. Many dawg fans call the ACC the All Cup Cakes. If you read more posts you will see i do use Cupcake.
Thanks now go put some new D-cells in B.O.B and knock yourself out.
Right
December 28th, 2011
7:04 pm
UGA …. how to less with more….
too bad you don’t have to play anyone worth a crap… Why don’t you move to the ACC with that schedule.
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
7:04 pm
Damn Fumble too
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
7:04 pm
Bama has also played GA southern Ga State louisiana Monroe…….
All teams play weak OOC games
Blackoutanyone?
December 28th, 2011
7:06 pm
Dawg48… yep.. along with LSU, Arkansas and @Penn State. Playing Georgia Southern is ok.. unless that is your top out of conference opponent in a season when @USCe is your toughest conference game.
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
7:08 pm
48 we know it is fun to pick though.
Like Crowell i am going for a smoke break. see you in a sec. 48 i bet they score 21 points while I am gone.
Mako
December 28th, 2011
7:09 pm
Smart….go jerk off….that comment “Thanks now go put some new D-cells in B.O.B and knock yourself out” shows what a jerk wad you are….now leave buttbreath
Dawg48
December 28th, 2011
7:10 pm
Blackout
You said yourself UGA does not make the SEC schedule. So what’s your argument?
Bama’s OOC schedule is about the same as UGA’s!
Michigan is all of a sudden a power house cause they are on Bama’s schedule C’mon man!
Tech would give Michigan all they want plus some, and could beat them any day!
icedawg
December 28th, 2011
7:11 pm
We need and will take all the help we can get.
Blackoutanyone?
December 28th, 2011
7:12 pm
Dawg48… Bama plays MICHIGAN in Dallas to open the season. The same MICHIGAN team that will play in the SUGAR BOWL in next week. Bama will play Michigan’s Sugar Bowl opponent Virginia Tech to open the 2013 season. Still want to compare ooc schedules?
Dawgs Whimp Out
December 28th, 2011
7:14 pm
So – UGA finally gets a chance to prove if they could hang with the Big Boys and they WHIMP out. To me – UGA will always be a lot of bark – but nothing else. Sure – they can beat the bad teams (just check the conference record of the SEC teams they played this year) but can’t beat teams that really matter.
Way to go AD – you whimped out again.
A person SMART enough to know......
December 28th, 2011
7:14 pm
No they just scored 7