Life in the SEC is difficult. Every year Georgia football (and every other SEC program for the matter) face the most difficult schedules in the country, and that isn't changing this season according to ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI).
ESPN updated their FPI metric just last week, and Georgia somewhat surprisingly came in as the No. 2 team in the country behind Texas. But how do things look for the rest of the SEC? Unsurprisingly, the SEC actually had 13 teams ranked inside the preseason FPI top 25.
This means that the SEC will once again have the toughest schedules in the country, which is more than true for Kirby Smart and Georgia.
Georgia faces tough test in 2025
According to ESPN's FPI, the Bulldogs have the eighth most difficult schedule in the country. This honestly feels like somewhat of a break because Georgia was even higher last season, but only having one non-conference power four opponent on their schedule this season does make things a little easier.
The thing that stands out the most from this data is that the SEC has 15 of the 16 most difficult schedules in the country this season. Wisconsin is the only team outside of the SEC with one of the 16 most difficult schedules, but that is because they have a road game at Alabama this season.
While having a difficult schedule like this could be concerning, on paper it's actually a good thing. Strength of schedule is one of the metrics the College Football Playoff committee should be looking at when ranking teams, so if Georgia has the same record as another team with an easier schedule then that should give UGA a slight boost
Now everyone knows that the logic used by the CFP committee is unpredictable, but if strength of schedule matters to them this season then a 10-2 or even 9-3 record could be good enough to make the playoff this year.