NCAA Football NEWS
2008 SEC Football Schedules
Published by MoonDog on May 20, 2008
Every team in the SEC has rounded out their 2008 schedule and I thought it might be fun to grade each team.
I’m going to rank the top four teams based on difficulty of their season opener, first and second half schedules, home and away schedules and toughest overall schedule.
One very quick note – I didn’t take into account the annual Georgia-Florida game in determining each team’s home and road schedules since the game is played at a neutral site.
One of the easier decisions to make was determining which teams had the toughest season opener. Hands down, the Crimson Tide’s home date against the Clemson Tigers will be one of the marquee season-opening games to start the college football season.
From there it’s a toss up but I’ll give the nod to the Tennessee Volunteers opening the season on the road against UCLA. Kentucky’s road date against Louisville and South Carolina’s home opener against North Carolina State round out the toughest opening season games.
Toughest Season Opener
1. Alabama
2. Tennessee
3. Kentucky
4. South Carolina
You’d be hard pressed to find any team other than the Florida Gators with the toughest first half schedule. The Gators will face Hawaii and Miami (FL) at home to start the year. After an open date, the Gators travel to Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers. The Gators will then face the Ole Miss Rebels at home, travel to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks and return home to face the LSU Tigers.
I hate to sound like I’m waffling but the next three teams are nearly interchangeable. Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia each have four very tough games in the first half.
I’ll give a slight nod to the Razorbacks, who open against Western Illinois but then have five straight games against quality competition. The Hogs will square off against Louisiana-Monroe in week two then make their first road trip of the young season against the Texas Longhorns. The Hogs return home to face Alabama and the Gators then make a trip to the Plains to face the Auburn Tigers.
The Vols open on the road against UCLA then return home to face the UAB Blazers after an open date. Tennessee will face the Gators at home and the following week visit Auburn. The Vols return home to face Northern Illinois and then go back on the road when they visit Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs.
Georgia opens the season with two very winnable games against Georgia Southern and Central Michigan. Things get much more difficult from that point as the Bulldogs travel to Columbia to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. The following week gets even more interesting when Georgia travels to Tempe to face the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Bulldogs return home to face Alabama and Tennessee with an open date sandwiched in between.
Most Difficult First Half Schedule
1. Florida
2. Arkansas
3. Tennessee
4. Georgia
The second half schedules of most teams are manageable, but clearly the toughest slate belongs to South Carolina. The Gamecocks play host to Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas before closing out the season with road dates against Florida and Clemson.
The Georgia Bulldogs will have an even tougher second half schedule than their first, with home dates against Vanderbilt, Florida and Georgia Tech. Georgia has road dates against LSU, Kentucky and Auburn to round out the Bulldogs 12-game slate.
The War Eagles second half doesn’t look like much fun either with home dates against Arkansas, UT-Martin and Georgia. Auburn travels to West Virginia, Ole Miss and closes out their regular season in the annual Iron Bowl game against Alabama.
It’s a tough call and I could easily put Alabama and Vanderbilt here, but the Kentucky Wildcats appear to have a slightly tougher second half than the Tide and Commodores. The Wildcats welcome Arkansas, Georgia and Vanderbilt to Lexington with road dates against Florida, Mississippi State and Tennessee.
Most Difficult Second Half Schedule
1. South Carolina
2. Georgia
3. Auburn
4. Kentucky
South Carolina easily has the strongest home slate of any SEC team. Among the Gamecocks seven home games, South Carolina will face North Carolina State, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas.
Auburn has one of the better home schedules with games against LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia. Arkansas has an attractive home slate featuring games against Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and LSU. Vanderbilt has three of the toughest home games in the SEC with a slate that includes Auburn, Florida and Tennessee.
Toughest Home Schedule
1. South Carolina
2. Auburn
3. Arkansas
4. Vanderbilt
The SEC road schedules are always tough and this year is no exception. This is definitely the most difficult to select four teams with the strongest road slates.
I’m giving the nod to the Georgia Bulldogs with road games against South Carolina, Arizona State, LSU and Auburn. Mississippi State has a very tough road slate featuring games against Georgia Tech, LSU, Tennessee and Alabama.
Speaking of the Crimson Tide, they will have a tough road schedule this season with games against Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and LSU. Rounding out the top four road schedules are the Ole Miss Rebels with games featuring Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and LSU.
Toughest Road Schedule
1. Georgia
2. Mississippi State
3. Alabama
4. Ole Miss
Now we’ve arrived at the teams with the overall toughest schedules. Without question the Georgia Bulldogs have the most difficult schedule of any SEC team. With eight games against quality competition, no other team in the SEC will face as many strong opponents.
The South Carolina Gamecocks have the second most difficult schedule among SEC teams this season with seven exceptional opponents.
The Florida Gators face seven very tough opponents in 2008 and rank as the third most difficult schedule of all SEC teams. Rounding out the top four teams is the Alabama Crimson Tide. While Alabama and Auburn each face six very strong opponents, the Tide gets the nod by virtue of four very difficult road dates as opposed to Auburn’s two.
Overall Toughest Schedule
1. Georgia
2. South Carolina
3. Florida
4. Alabama
I’ve compiled this list in the most unbiased way possible. It’s strictly subjective based upon my opinion. If you’d like to check out every SEC team’s schedule click here and make your own list.
Jai at Losers With Socks found a much better schedule than the one I’ve linked to. Click here to visit his site and get the link to the helmet schedule.
Similar Posts:
- 2009 SEC Football Power Poll
- 2009 SEC Football Power Poll – Week 5
- 2009 SEC Football Week-by-Week Schedule
- 2009 SEC Football Power Poll – Week 4
- 2009 SEC Football Power Poll – Week 8
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SEC Helmet Schedule « Loser with Socks on Tue, 20th May 2008 11:49
[...] Sports examines the SEC team schedules. The Hardest, the easiest and some other variations [Moondog]. UGA fans are excited after beating Hawaii. Who can forget UGA lobbying the drive by liberal left [...]
Picture Me Rollin on Tue, 20th May 2008 12:03
That’s a good list. I can’t find anything there to disagree with. Good work, as usual.
MoonDog on Tue, 20th May 2008 12:25
Thanks dude. Tried to be objective and I believe I was.
MeanDovine on Tue, 20th May 2008 12:29
Very comprehensive job, bro.
I love the SEC …
Although I am more of a Big 12, Pac-10, and Big 10 follower, I got my first experience with the protypical athletes that make up the SEC as a youth while visiting my grand parents in Alabama. I loved watching neighborhood guys play tackle football without any gear in big open fields. Those guys had jets I’ve never seen before. Running the sweep was a thing of beauty, especially when they got the corrner turned.
So what’s up with ‘Bama this year? Anything noteworthy?
MoonDog on Tue, 20th May 2008 12:43
The Tide will be interesting to watch this season. Saban brought in a lot talent, but the schedule is really tough. I see them going somewhere between 7-5 and 9-3.
MeanDovine on Tue, 20th May 2008 14:55
Fair enough …