Georgia has been the top-Dawg in the SEC East for the past three seasons, making the SEC Championship every year since 2017.
For 2020, expectations remain the same for Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs. A top-four finish, an SEC Championship appearance and a potential return to the College Football Playoff. Anything less is a disappointment.
With those expectations, a 10-2 regular season would be considered a disappointment. It would practically eliminate the Dawgs from Playoff contention, unless Georgia goes out and wins convincingly in Atlanta (if it can navigate its way there) and gets a lot of help from around the country.
So, when Pete Fiutak of College Football News picked Georgia as his potentially disappointing team from the SEC, he does not foresee an 8-4 season or anything like that. Instead, he made mention to how it’s all relative. Meaning that a 10-win season for 95% of FBS programs would be considered great, however, if Georgia wins 9 or 10, that’s a let-down by UGA standards.
From Fiutak:
It’s all relative.
No, 2020 Georgia isn’t going 8-4, or anything like that.
We predicted that Florida would be one of the top ten teams in college football before last year started – but would be a slight disappointment because it wouldn’t win the SEC East – and Georgia will begin this season in the top five, if not top three.
Georgia’s 2020 is going to be a difficult one. Aside from losing so much experience on offense and a few defensive leaders, that schedule is no joke.
On the road at Alabama in week-three. An October game vs Auburn. The annual matchup vs Florida, this time on Halloween. If Georgia is undefeated heading into November, it’s the best team in the country and will be everybody’s pick to win the national title. But if Georgia comes out of that stretch with one or two losses, it’ll need a lot of things to fall into place in order to make it back to the playoff.
One regular season loss is fine, as long as Georgia wins the SEC Championship.
Two losses, and Georgia will need A LOT of help to make it back. A lot.
From Fiutak:
Georgia is going to keep coming into seasons as one of the five or six teams with a realistic shot at winning the national title. However, have a misfire like last year’s loss to South Carolina, finally be on the wrong end of the Florida showdown, lose to Alabama, or even have another season like the last two with an 11-1 regular season and a loss in the SEC Championship, and the CFP dreams are gone with two losses.
