No one outside of the SEC understands how difficult it is to play in the SEC. Every team in the league is capable of beating any other team on any given day, and while that makes for an exciting season it makes life extremely difficult for all 16 teams.
That is why it didn't make a whole lot of sense when the SEC added a ninth conference game that begins this season. They were pressured by the Big Ten to do so since they've been playing nine conference games for close to a decade now, so without putting much thought into it this move made some sense so they were on an "equal" playing field.
It turns out however that the SEC and Big Ten are not on an equal playing field, and Georgia is the perfect case study for why this move was a big mistake.
Georgia is the perfect example of why the SEC made a disastrous mistake
Entering this season ESPN revealed that Georgia has the 20th-most difficult schedule in the country. That clearly will be a big challenge, but Georgia has faced far worse so they won't be intimidated by this. Even though they have the 20th-most difficult schedule in the country they actually have the easiest schedule in the SEC.
Yes, you read that right, all 16 SEC teams are ranked inside the top 20 most difficult schedules in the country this season. That is nothing new because all 16 teams ranked inside the top 17 most difficult schedules in the country last year when they were only playing eight conference games.
The Big Ten however begged for equality, so the SEC folded and gave it to them. Georgia however is proving that they never should've moved to nine conference games because a conference's "easiest" schedule being the 20th-most difficult in the country just isn't fair.
On top of that, the Big Ten does not require their schools to play a non-conference Power Four game every season. The SEC however does. So the SEC actually is required to play 10 Power Four teams each year and the Big Ten only has to play nine.
So when the Big Ten talks about equality they don't actually mean it because Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti just said he wants his schools to play the SEC more during the regular season, but if he actually meant that then he would require them to play a non-conference Power Four team every year like the SEC does.
The SEC faces multiple disadvantages by adding a ninth conference game
This difference in schedules makes life more difficult for the SEC than it needs to be. And as a result all 16 SEC teams will face the same disadvantages compared to the Big Ten.
Playing a more difficult schedule means that the SEC will be far less rested when it comes time to play in the College Football Playoff. The Big Ten has multiple "bye weeks" each year when they play the bottom dwellers of their league, but those "bye weeks" don't exist in the SEC. They are challenged every single week, and that takes a toll on a team that the Big Ten just doesn't understand.
So when it comes time for the playoff the Big Ten teams are more fresh compared to the SEC. That might explain why they've won three National Championships in a row.
On top of this, the CFP committee has proven that they don't value strength of schedule as much as they should, so why is the SEC even trying to make their schedules more difficult in the first place?
The Big Ten unfortunately complained for long enough and they finally go their way. They think they have equality but their lack of a required non-conference Power Four game shows that they never actually wanted to be equals.
They wanted to give their schools an advantage which they now have, so when the SEC rightfully points out why they should be rewarded for playing more difficult schedules all the Big Ten will probably do is cry and complain just like they've done for the past decade.
Add us as a preferred source on Google