Expert 'favors' Georgia in all 12 regular season games

NCAA Football: Georgia G-Day Spring Game — Apr 12, 2025; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart shown during the Georgia Spring game at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

It was this time last year that much of the talk surrounding Georgia football focused on the unrelenting road gauntlet the Bulldogs would have to wade through in the regular season. Georgia had four road games, with three of those coming against top-20-ranked opponents.

Georgia went 1-2 in those three games, losing to Alabama and Ole Miss. They beat Texas on the road in the first of two matchups with the Longhorns. Now, as the Bulldogs are set to play those same three teams again, this time at home, Phil Steele believes Georgia could be favored in not only those three games but every regular-season contest.

“If you look at last year’s schedule, I mean, Georgia had a brutal slate. They had a play Alabama on the road, Texas on the road, Ole Miss on the road. Well, guess what? They get all three of those teams at home this year,” Steele said during a recent interview with 680TheFan. “In fact, if you go down Georgia’s schedule, I don’t have them an underdog in a single game. I’ve got them favored in all 12 games during the regular season, so I think Georgia has a great shot of getting to the SEC title game, and that makes them a legitimate national title contender.”

It is hard to tell what that says more about. The daunting home-field advantage that Georgia has in Sanford Stadium, where they boast the longest active home winning streak in college football. Or, is Steele that high on the Bulldogs this coming season?

The answer is likely somewhere in the middle. In his 2025 college football preview magazine, Steele had Georgia ranked as the No. 7 team in his preseason poll. That ranks behind only Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas, Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson.

Georgia will play both Steele’s No. 3-ranked team (Texas) and No. 4 (Alabama). Yet, with both games at Sanford Stadium, he has Georgia being favored to win in each. Ole Miss is ranked at No. 22, while Tennessee (No. 20) and Auburn (No. 24) round out the list of teams Georgia opponents that Steele has ranked in the top-25.

After running the gauntlet on the road a season ago, Georgia will have just three true road games in 2025. The first will come in Week 3 at Tennessee, and nearly a month later, they’ll travel to Auburn on Oct. 11, followed by Mississippi State on Nov. 8.

Even with questions remaining about Georgia’s quarterback, where Gunner Stockton looks to be the favorite to win the job, or the offensive and defensive line, after both lost key contributors from last season, it seems Georgia has reached the point where it will receive the benefit of the doubt.