2011 Chick Fil-A College Kickoff Set: Georgia Vs. Boise State

News of a shakeup in 2011 SEC football scheduling have been swirling for at least a day now, and via a Friday afternoon press conference, we have our answer: Georgia and Boise State will face off in next year’s Chick-fil-A College Kickoff. This nixes both Ole Miss’ planned season opener versus the Broncos, and Georgia’s home-and-home series with Louisville. Reparations are being made, however: The Rebel Black Bears will face BSU in a Thursday-night Georgia Dome game in 2014, while ESPN and the CFA organization are buying Georgia out of their obligations to the Cardinals.

SB Nation’s Dawg Sports likes the precedents the Dawgs have going for them:

One clear benefit to opening the autumn with an opponent of the caliber of Boise State is that Mark Richt-coached teams tend to start stronger when they spend the offseason preparing to face a top-tier opponent on Labor Day weekend. In the years Georgia opened with Clemson (2002 and 2003), Boise State (2005), and Oklahoma State (2007 and 2009), the Bulldogs went 53-14, finished no worse than tied for first place in the SEC East four times, won two out of three SEC Championship Game appearances, and went to three Sugar Bowls.Georgia does have the most recent slice of rivalry history on their side: They walloped the Broncos, 48-13, to open the 2005 season. The Boise State outfit of the 2010s, of course, is a vastly different animal, but they should tread lightly: SEC teams have yet to lose a Chick-fil-A season opener, thanks in large part to the vaporized peanut oil the teams down here breathe as an oxygen supplement.