Nine-Game SEC Football Schedule Announced: Here's What Georgia's Might Look Like

Update: the SEC disagrees with South Carolina's president on the matter of nine games:

@SECPRGuy #SEC will continue to play eight conference games in football. There has been no discussions on nine game schedule.    

To make room for the Missouri Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies while keeping every existing rivalry intact, the SEC had pretty much no choice but to go to nine games. It's bad for the middlin' teams, means more TV money from week to week, ensures the SEC is by far the toughest conference, and stakes the SEC champion to a national title bid pretty much regardless of record.

In other words, this is gonna be brutal.

How might the Georgia Bulldogs come out of this?

First, here's a look at their 2012 schedule as it stands right now, via Sic Em Dawgs:

2012 Georgia Bulldogs Football Schedule
Date/Time	TV	Opponent
09/01/12 Time TBA	TBA	Buffalo
09/08/12 Time TBA	TBA	at South Carolina
09/15/12 Time TBA	TBA	Florida Atlantic
09/22/12 Time TBA	TBA	Vanderbilt
09/29/12 Time TBA	TBA	Tennessee
10/06/12 Time TBA	TBA	at Alabama
10/13/12 Time TBA	TBA	at Kentucky
10/20/12	---	Open Date		---
10/27/12 3:30 p.m. ET		Florida 1
11/03/12 Time TBA	TBA	Ole Miss
11/10/12 Time TBA	TBA	at Auburn
11/17/12 Time TBA	TBA	Georgia Southern
11/24/12 Time TBA	TBA	Georgia Tech

You can kiss one of the following three goodbye: Georgia Southern, Florida Atlantic, or Buffalo. UGA won't ditch a century-old rivalry against Georgia Tech, meaning it's out one cupcake instead (your joke about Tech being a cupcake anyway goes here: ____________________). That school will be replaced by Missouri, either in Columbia or in Athens. 

I'm assuming the Buffalo game is the one that would cost UGA the most to keep, due to travel expenses. None of the three poses a significant on-field challenge. I'd bet on Buffalo getting bought out here, but that's speculation.

The good news is the SEC West side of Georgia's schedule might get slightly easier. As five-year stats show, A&M would not have been a powerhouse in the West by any means. Getting them instead of LSU or Alabama some year would likely be welcome.