Georgia’s road to the natty was far more difficult than you think

As it turns out, Georgia played a harder schedule than even your favorite college football team.

Georgia football just went 15-0 en route to winning back-to-back national championships for the first time in program history.

Not only did the Dawgs go back-to-back, but Kirby Smart’s team became the first program to do so in the College Football Playoff era. While some fans are debating if the Dawgs can pull off an unprecedented three-peat next season, are you taking Georgia or the field? Though you have plenty of time to mull over this difficult decision, you cannot deny this one simple fact for Georgia…

They played the toughest schedule in college football last year based on its opponents’ combined final winning percentage in 2022. This includes bowls and playoff games, obviously. The Dawgs edged out cross-divisional rival Auburn by a 10th of a percent: 68.2 percent for UGA to 68.1 for Auburn. Colorado, Tennessee and LSU round out the top five at 64.8, 64.5 and 64.1, respectively.

https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1615846623145332737

Not only did the Dawgs play the toughest schedule, they beat all 15 teams they faced as well!

Georgia proves it’s elite and you’re not by navigating the toughest 2022 schedule

For those who do not remember, this the schedule the Dawgs navigated to perfection last year.

• Oregon Ducks (Atlanta, GA)
• Samford Bulldogs (Athens, GA)
• South Carolina Gamecocks (Columbia, SC)
• Kent State Golden Flashes (Athens, GA)
• Missouri Tigers (Columbia, MO)
• Auburn Tigers (Athens, GA)
• Vanderbilt Commodores (Athens, GA)
• Bye
• Florida Gators (Jacksonville, FL)
• Tennessee Volunteers (Athens, GA)
• Mississippi State Bulldogs (Starkville, MS)
• Kentucky Wildcats (Lexington, KY)
• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Athens, GA)
• LSU Tigers (SEC Championship, Atlanta, GA)
• Ohio State Buckeyes (Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Atlanta, GA)
• TCU Horned Frogs (College Football Playoff National Championship, Inglewood, CA)

Are there aspects of this schedule that the Dawgs benefited from greatly last year? Absolutely. Three of their five neutral-site games were right down the road in Atlanta. The Dawgs play in the weaker SEC East, although Tennessee had its best season in years and South Carolina really came on down the stretch. Then again, the Dawgs did not have to play at Neyland Stadium either last year…

However, they still beat two playoff teams, an SEC West champion, the Orange Bowl champion and one of the better programs out of the Pac-12. While Kent State and Samford do not move the needle, Georgia did its part by beating two Power Five teams in the non-conference in Oregon and Georgia Tech. They got to pick those games, while they did not for the final three on their schedule.

Overall, you also have to remember how difficult it is to stay this consistently strong throughout the season. These are college kids, where emotions run high. You are never guaranteed to get the same team, week in and week out. Not only that, but every time you beat a team, the opponent’s winning percentage goes down. They may have played more games, but played more good teams.

Georgia is not unique in this for a national champion, but to say their schedule was weak is dumb.

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