You have to hand it to Alabama and Georgia, not only will they be the overwhelming favorites to win their divisions this offseason but they know how to make it easy on themselves when they play outside of conference play.
Both programs, along with Arkansas, were recently named to a list of easiest non-conference schedules named by Chris Low of ESPN.com.
The Razorbacks inclusion makes sense, as the Arkansas program is the only one that won’t play a Power 5 opponent in non-conference play in 2018. That’s due to the fact Michigan canceled the scheduled home-and-home series with the Razorbacks in favor of playing Notre Dame. Following that action, the SEC gave Arkansas a waiver that permitted the program to schedule a Group of 5 opponent in Michigan’s place.
Here’s the non-conference schedule for each team named by Low:
Arkansas – #5 easiest schedule in the nation
Sept. 1 vs. Eastern Illinois, Sept. 8 at Colorado State, Sept. 15 vs. North Texas, Oct. 20 vs. Tulsa
Georgia – #9 easiest schedule in the nation
Sept. 1 vs. Austin Peay, Sept. 15 vs. Middle Tennessee, Nov. 17 vs. UMass, Nov. 24 vs. Georgia Tech
Alabama – #10 easiest schedule in the nation
Sept. 1 vs. Louisville in Orlando, Sept. 8 vs. Arkansas State, Sept. 29 vs. Louisiana, Nov. 17 vs. The Citadel
It would take a serious upset for any of these three to drop one of these games.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
