The backlash over Georgia’s 2012 schedule is well underway. I don’t deny that the schedule opens up some great opportunities, but let’s win them first and worry about impressing the critics later.

If Georgia does have a big year in 2012, it’s going to have to come with wins:

1. at a jacked-up Missouri hosting their first-ever SEC game. Missouri will likely finish 2011 ranked, is well-coached, and should have another competitive team in 2012.
2. at South Carolina to play a program that returns a lot of talent in a stadium where Georgia usually doesn’t win easily. Georgia has lost two straight to the Gamecocks, and South Carolina will likely see Georgia as their primary obstacle to winning the East.
3. in Jacksonville where, Florida down or not, the Dawgs haven’t put together consecutive wins since the Reagan-Bush years.
4. against a very good, likely top 5, team in the SEC Championship if the Dawgs are able to return to the Dome.

And all of that says nothing of traditional rivalries with Tennessee, Auburn, and Georgia Tech – teams that would give a lot to ruin our season, and teams that have spoiled some Georgia seasons in recent years.