Paul Finebaum defends Georgia for perceived weak schedule

If you’re tired of seeing Georgia rack up victories in the win column? Buckle up. After going 29-1 combined in ’21 and ’22, the Bulldog’s schedule in 2023, which has been a subject of much criticism this offseason, suggests that they’ll be winning at that same level this fall.

Even so, Paul Finebaum explained how that isn’t Georgia’s fault in the end. In an appearance on First Take from SEC Media Days on Monday, he defended the ‘Dawgs by pointing out that they’ve played tough non-conference schedules in the past and would have this season again had it not been for conference realignment.

“You mentioned the schedule but there is a reason why it is so bad. Georgia has always played one of the toughest preseason schedules in the country. Clemson a couple years ago and next year. You mentioned Oregon, they’ve had Notre Dame,” Finebaum said. “They had a road trip to Norman on the schedule this year. And, when Oklahoma and Texas entered the SEC two years ago, the SEC decided they did not want Oklahoma playing a one-off before they came into the league. So that game had to be scrapped.”

“You have a bunch of nobodies on the schedule. And, really, don’t even have a challenge, I don’t think, until later in the year in November when they go to Knoxville, which was No. 1 in the country last year when Georgia took them on,” said Finebaum.

Georgia’s schedule is already easy considering they’ll play just four road games in 2023. Of those four games, three of the four finished at 5-7. The remaining one is their trip to Knoxville to play Tennessee in the second-to-last game on the slate. As Finebaum said, that should be one of the few tests of their season.

As far as teams that they’ll play in Sanford Stadium, they’ll host three non-conference games against UT-Martin, Ball State, and UAB. Their home schedule in the SEC features the usual division opponents of South Carolina, Kentucky, and Missouri. They’ll also host Ole Miss as their western opponent as well as play their neutral site game against Florida.

In total, half of their opponents finished with a losing record in 2022. Overall, the dozen teams that they’ll play this fall went 80-70 (0.533) in the previous one.

With that said, Finebaum says that doesn’t fall completely on Georgia. It’s the schedule that has come about for them and, as far as they’re concerned, the only thing that they can do is go out and play it in hopes of three-peating.