There are no guarantees in life, especially in a pandemic. There are no guarantees the 2020 SEC football season will start or finish. We certainly hope the league can pull it off… and that’s a subject worth exploring in a separate column.
By Matt Zemek
For now, though, let’s look at a world in which we do play SEC football. What a wonderful world that would be… and what an intense pressure cooker it will be if Auburn and Georgia are able to meet in Week 2 of this adjusted schedule.
It would probably be the hinge-point moment of the SEC season.
Think about it: Would any other SEC game have more of a domino effect on what will happen later in the season?
Yes, Georgia-Florida and Alabama-LSU are the likely (and unofficial) division championship games, but Auburn-Georgia in Week 2 will shape how those and other key SEC games will figure into the race for Atlanta and the SEC Championship Game in December.
Auburn-Georgia will tell us whether Georgia is riding high or on the ropes heading into the Dawgs’ game at Alabama in Week 4. Auburn-Georgia, if the game is fiercely competitive, will let Georgia know what it has to work on when it heads to Tuscaloosa two weeks later. If Tigers-Dawgs is a Georgia blowout, Kirby Smart might not bring a fully tested team into Bryant-Denny Stadium. If Auburn springs the upset, Georgia will go to Alabama needing a great performance to avoid eating a second SEC loss before November.
If the Florida Gators want to be able to win the SEC East without beating Georgia, having Auburn ambush the Dawgs in Week 2 is probably the result they need in addition to Alabama defeating UGA. From the Georgia side, that Week 2 contest against Auburn contains a lot of meaning. What KIND of meaning remains to be seen, if we are fortunate to see this SEC season play out in full.
A win against Georgia enables Auburn to dream big in 2020; a loss removes margin for error, with the LSU game turning into a battle for survival — and likely second place — in the SEC West.
Auburn football fans have to like this change on the schedule. The reality of having to play Georgia and Alabama in a 14-day span in November is very difficult for AU. Now the Tigers escape that gauntlet; being physically fresh early in the season could be just the thing they need to play their best against Georgia after a pair of regular-season losses, three straight if you count the 2017 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
There are so many fascinating components of the 2020 SEC 10-game schedule. Auburn playing Georgia in Week 2 doesn’t promise the best game or even the biggest, but it is the game which will have a cascading impact on the rest of the season, one way or another.
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