Alabama Football: 2023 schedules and paths to championships

One of the annually popular off-season debates is about the coming season’s strength of schedules. Alabama football fans have frequently complained the SEC West is a far tougher division than the SEC East. One reason that has been a fair claim goes back to the struggles of the Florida Gators.  Over the last 10 seasons, the Gators have averaged just 7.5 wins per season. Until last season, the Tennessee Vols have been worse than Florida, averaging just over six wins per season from 2008-2021.

With Georgia’s national championship success, Alabama football fans have been quick to point out the Bulldogs’ path to the SEC Championship game and the Playoffs has been easier than the Crimson Tide’s.

Giving Georgia its due and moving beyond strength of schedule disparities makes sense. But it remains hard to reconcile Georgia’s often easier path to Atlanta. One thing to remember is the other 12 SEC teams have tougher schedules from having to play either the Crimson Tide or the Bulldogs. In the case of Tennessee and Auburn, it is always both. As it also is this season for Kentucky and Ole Miss.

When the SEC transitions to a no-division format, upon the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, interest in Georgia’s schedule should fade for Crimson Tide fans. But for the 2023 season, it will be impossible to suspect that again, Georgia has an easier schedule than the Crimson Tide.

Alabama Football and Georgia 2023 Schedules

To compare, an objective pre-season ranking of teams is needed. College Football News (CFN) recently provided a ranking of all 133 teams for the 2023 season. Using that projection, the Alabama and Georgia schedules can be compared.

Taking away FCS opponents and the teams both Alabama and Georgia play leaves six teams for comparison.  The average ranking for Georgia’s six opponents (South Carolina, UAB, Vandy, Florida, Missouri and Georgia Tech) is 52.2. Alabama’s six opponents (MTSU, Texas, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Arkansas and LSU) have an average ranking of 31.7. That is a significant difference.

What is more glaring is comparing games against top teams. CFN ranks the top 12 teams as Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Penn State, LSU, FSU, USC, Washington, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Texas.

Alabama plays three of the top 12 in the regular season. Georgia plays one. Georgia fans can argue such preseason rankings are flawed. Early predictions and final results vary for many teams. But they are accurate enough for most teams to assess schedule strength. The only reasonable assessment, in this case, is the 2023 Georgia Bulldogs have it easier than the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Note: Team records in this post are provided by Sports Reference

Other predicted top 20 opponents based on the CFN ranking are South Carolina at No. 20 for Georgia; and Texas A&M at No. 17 for Alabama.