This weeks viewing schedule for a Georgia football fan
Saturday
12:00 Kent State at no. 4 Clemson. ESPN
Action on Saturday begins with the defending National Champions taking on a severely over-matched Kent State team. Coincidentally, Kent State is where Nick Saban played college football in the 1970’s. So the Tigers can end the 2016 season with a win over Saban’s current team and start 2017 with a win over his former team.
3:00 South Carolina at North Carolina State. ESPN
The first SEC game of the week with any intrigue is right in our division. South Carolina is rebuilding under Will Muschamp and how they perform in this game will show everyone how far they’ve come in that rebuild.
Are they ready to compete for SEC East Championships? Should we be concerned to play them in Athens? Or is this team going to struggle to reach seven or eight wins this season? The Gamecocks could certainly recover from a loss to the Wolfpack. But they could also be exposed.
3:30 no. 11 Michigan @ no. 17 Florida. ABC
30 minutes after South Carolina and NC State begins, we can jump our TV’s over to Arlington Texas where Michigan and Florida meet in a game between two top-20 teams.
This is one of the more polarizing games of the weekend as there doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus on expectations for either team. Both are seen as teams who could either play in the college football playoffs, or be a major disappointment.
Michigan lost a lot of players to graduation, but Jim Harbaugh has recruited very will at Michigan so far. However, for whatever reason, there are doubts about his coaching ability in the college ranks. A win on this stage can silence many doubters.
Florida, on the other hand, retains enough pieces that they won’t experience much of a drop off early in the 2017 season. But quarterback play is still a concern and they have numerous players suspended, including their best receiver.
Unfortunately, about 85,000 fans will have to miss the ending to this game. It’ll soon be time to make the trek to Sanford Stadium to watch our Dawgs play. That brings us to…
6:15 Appalachian State at no. 15 Georgia. ESPN
Many of us will be in the stadium to watch this, others will be at home, in a bar, at a tailgate, or somewhere else watching it live. Either way, for a Georgia fan, it’s the most important game of the week.
8:00 no. 3 Florida State @ no. 1 Alabama. ABC
For those that watched Georgia vs. Appalachian State at home, at a tailgate or in a bar, you’ll be lucky enough to flip right over to ABC to watch the Crimson Tide play the Seminoles. For those attending the Georgia game, hopefully you live close enough to the stadium, or have a hotel in Athens.
What more is their to say about a game between two top-three teams. Their both probably good enough to run the table and get back inside the top-four if they lose this game. This is the sixth-straight year that Alabama will open at a neutral sight and the eighth year since 2008. Alabama is undefeated in these season kickoff games.
Both teams expect to win their respective conferences before playing in the playoffs. So this might not be the last time Alabama and Florida State meet this season.
9:30 no. 13 Louisiana State at Brigham Young. ESPN
Our night of SEC action ends with the definitive beginning of the Ed Orgeron era at LSU. Orgeron replaced Les Miles as the interim coach last season, and after a good finish to 2016, he was hired as the permanent coach.
BYU is a good opponent to start Coach O’s first full year at LSU. The Cougars will challenge the Tigers, especially on their home turf. They could even beat LSU and that would not be an ideal start to Orgeron’s first full season as a head coach since he was fired from Ole Miss in 2007.