Comparing the 2001 schedule to 2016

Lots of parallels between these 2 years. Young, hungry first year HCs in Athens that came as decorated coordinators from another power school used to winning titles. Pretty much brand new staff. Uncertainty at QB. We can break down comparisons position for position later if yall want but here I wanted to look at the schedules. Obviously we dont' know how each team in '16 will be bc it hasn't happened yet but I'll take a reasonable guess. This is just guesswork in comparing but figured I'd give it a shot.

EAST
Florida- 2001. That team was incredibly good and finished ranked in the top 10. They are likely head and shoulders better than 2016 UF.

Tennessee- 2001. Team was 30 minutes away from playing for a national title. 2016 should be pretty good but not like 01 was. Also get them at home compared to knoxville.

SC- Hard to tell but I'd give the nod to 01. That team finished 9-3 and ranked 13th. This team is probably more talented (just due to better recruiting) but has a new staff and question marks at QB as well. We play in columbia this year, but SC in 01 was our first SEC game early in the year so we really didn't have a lot of time to find our legs.

UK- 2016. They went 2-9 in 2001 and we got them at home. Thy aren't world beaters but should be tougher in 16 in lex than they were here in 01.

Vandy- Who knows. They went 2-9 in 2001 and we played in nashville, this year in athens. They're probably better this year than 01 but it's still vandy.

WEST
Ole Miss- 2016. They went 7-4 in 2001 and we beat them pretty good in oxford. This year's version is also in oxford but this team looks to be quite a few notches better than 2001.

Auburn- Who knows. Both games at home. 2001 went 7-5 while this year's team could probably go anywhere from 6-6 to 9-3. Call this a tossup.

tech
2001. That team went 8-5 and finished ranked and we played in atlanta. This year's game is at home and has a lesser team coached by CPJ, but the wildcard here will be our staff's first test against CPJ and that offense. A handful had to coach against GSU while at bama so that should help some. Overall I'd give the nod to 01's game being tougher.


So of the 8 teams we play this year that we also played in 01, I'd guess that 4 were noticeably tougher in 01, 3 tougher this year, and 1 tossup.


I'd say our roster top to bottom is more stocked now than it was heading into 01, so that bodes well I'd think.