The College Football Playoff committee is making decisions this year that will change the course of how teams schedule forever. Out of all the teams who are on the outside of the playoff looking in, it’s Texas who feels the most disrespected. And they have a lot of good reasons to feel that way.
Sure the Longhorns are 9-3, and with multiple 10-2 teams also on the bubble it makes sense for them to be on the outside looking in. But the Longhorns feel they are being punished for losing to No. 1 Ohio State in their season opener.
If Texas had scheduled a cupcake team instead they’d be 10-2 and probably in the playoff, but since they lost to OSU instead they are being left out. This is setting a dangerous precedent because Texas does deserve some credit for scheduling that game, but they aren’t getting any credit for it. So this now leaves teams with a big decision to make, should they continue scheduling big non-conference matchups or should the schedule easy games instead?
While teams decide what they should do, Alabama has already made the decision to postpone their upcoming matchup with USF to instead play much easier teams next season. And if the Crimson Tide are going to do that, maybe Georgia should too.
Alabama & USF move 2026 game to 2032. Crimson Tide replaces USF in 2026 w/Chattanooga & adds home game w/East Carolina in 2026
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 2, 2025
Georgia may have to follow Alabama’s lead
Georgia has no choice but to cancel a game on their 2026 schedule. They already had four non-conference opponents scheduled before the SEC moved to nine game seasons, so the Bulldogs have to get rid of one of those games.
They won’t be canceling on Georgia Tech, so that leaves Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and a road game at Louisville. And after seeing how the CFP committee is handling Texas’s loss to Ohio State, it seems obvious that Georgia should cancel their game with Louisville.
Georgia has a lot of more big non-conference games scheduled in the future as well. Florida State, Clemson, Ohio State and NC State are all on their future schedules already, but that may not last. If the committee is going to punish teams for good losses then Georgia might be better off canceling these games and playing easy opponents instead.
This is the last thing anyone wants, but the committee is leaving teams no choice. Alabama has already made the decision to make their schedule easier, so it might be wise for Georgia to follow suit as well.