2013 Georgia football schedule: Dawgs face Auburn, Clemson & LSU

As most Georgia fans probably know by now, the Bulldogs are going to have a rough schedule facing them in 2013. They play three of their traditional rivals in the first few weeks of the season, and not just rivals, but what's considered to be some of the nation's better programs in Auburn, Clemson and LSU.

The schedule is only inconvenient due to the Southeastern Conference's effort to accommodate the league's expansion this season in adding Texas A&M and Missouri. Officials are calling this the "bridge" schedule, as it aims to get scheduling back to a level of normalcy in 2014.

SEC ADs are supposed to convene in the spring to begin formulating schedules for the 2014 season and beyond. Fans at SB Nation's Georgia blog aren't exactly thrilled about the schedule, but as T Kyle King wrote, it could've been worse for the Dawgs.

Here, King provides some perspective on Georgia starting off with a tough slate:

Finally, the preservation of the rivalry-renewing opener against Clemson and the return of the South Carolina game to its typical spot in the season's second outing offer a challenging one-two punch to inaugurate the autumn. Those who remember the Bulldogs' stumbles out of the gate against Oklahoma State in 2009 and against Boise State in 2011 may flinch at the thought of kicking off the campaign away from home and hedge against a legitimate opponent, but, in the Mark Richt era, the Classic City Canines' best seasons generally have begun against stiff competition.