Auburn is seen as the winner of the schedule change with Georgia football. But Tennessee may have won even more than the Tigers.
News of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry move to earlier in the schedule has gone through the cycle. Media, fans and both schools have processed the announcement. The consensus is that Auburn won the deal, no longer having to play Georgia football and Alabama within three weeks of each other. The Dawgs aren’t necessarily the losers in the deal, unless you count not being guaranteed a makeup home game from the Tigers as a loss. But Auburn may not have been the biggest winners of the deal. Instead, it’s Tennessee who should be the happiest.
For certain, having to play Georgia and Alabama each in the span of two weeks isn’t ideal. Especially in even years where the Tigers were on the road for both games. But the Tigers always had a non-conference opponent between the games. They had a chance for a tune up.
Tennessee’s mid-season stretch is likely the most brutal in the nation. In a span of six weeks, every season, the Volunteers play Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. A SEC West opponent is tucked in there as well. This season, Tennessee travels to the Swamp on September 21 and is off the following week. From the bye, they host Georgia and Mississippi State, before traveling to Alabama and returning home to play the Gamecocks.
Last season, Auburn was the SEC West foe in the middle of that stretch. Back in 2016, it was a Texas A&M team ranked no. 8 at the time. In 2014, they played Ole Miss. Back then, the Rebels were a program on the rise. Without this change, Tennessee was set to play LSU in the middle of their schedule. If any team had a reason to complain about scheduling to the SEC, it was Tennessee, not Auburn.
Still, this change might not even be permanent. If Georgia athletic director and head coach Kirby Smart fight for a makeup home game, Georgia and Auburn could move back to November starting with the 2026 season. Meaning, Tennessee could go back to playing their absolutely brutal, season ruining stretch in the middle of the season.
There’s still more shake ups coming as the SEC needs to decide how to structure Tennessee’s November. Regardless of which opponent is moved, playing Missouri or Kentucky in the middle of Florida, Alabama and another SEC West team will be better than playing Georgia. For right now at least, Tennessee is the winner of Georgia and Auburn’s deal.