Charles Barkley Picks Georgia to Upset Michigan State
Former Auburn Tiger Charles Barkley likes the No. 10 seed Georgia Bulldogs chances in their NCAA Tournament game against the No. 7 seed Michigan State Spartans.
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Not many people are giving the Bulldogs much of a shot against Tom Izzo and Michigan State. After all, their the tournament-tough Spartans, and Izzo is a coach who has taken his team to a national championship and almost always has his teams positioned to win the Big Ten.
Hey, but this year’s Spartans aren’t typical, and although their program may be a bit more revered than Georgia’s, they have fallen short of expectations this season.
Barkley, who was doing pre, mid and post-game analysis during Thursday’s NCAA Tournament game said he was picking Georgia over Michigan State based on what he had seen from the Dawgs this year, especially when he was in Athens to watch Georgia play Kentucky.
While that game against the undefeated Wildcats was a tremendous effort, Georgia didn’t play a full 40 minutes of basketball, and that probably cost them the win. The Spartans are another team that it will take maximum effort from opening tip to final buzzer if the Dawgs want to move on to the round of 32.
The good news for the Bulldogs is that guard Kenny Gaines, who has been dealing with a foot injury, looks good to go against Michigan State. Whether or not he’s 100 percent isn’t known, but even a 75 percent healthy Gaines is better than none for Georgia.
Without Gaines, and a healthy Marcus Thornton and Charles Mann, the Bulldogs can be very vulnerable. Let’s hope everyone has healed up during the break since the SEC Tournament.