Georgia basketball: Best and worst case scenarios for the 2017-18 men’s season

Prediction: 21-9 overall, 13-6 in the SEC

Lets not get carried away. Georgia basketball is probably still a few years off from reaching its full potential. And a terrible back-slide shouldn’t be expected either. Instead, the Bulldogs will most likely right in between, which for them, would still be a great season.

In non-conference play, the Bulldogs fall to Saint Mary’s in the Wooden Legacy finals, Winthrop and Marquette. Neither are bad losses and the Bulldogs enter SEC play 8-3 only to get smacked by Kentucky.

But they bounce back and go on to split the series with Florida and South Carolina. Georgia also defeats Arkansas at home and sweeps LSU, Tennessee and Auburn. Those key wins and a single-digit in the loss column proves impressive enough for the committee and Georgia goes into the SEC Tournament playing for a higher seed rather than to get into the NCAA Tournament.

Next: Dealing with superstitions

How will Georgia follow this scenario?

Like the other scenarios, Georgia leans on the post play of Maten and Ogbeide. They are two of the best post players in the SEC and they prove that each game. William Jackson, Pape Diatta, Tyree Crump, Jordan Harris and Juwan Parker all step up as shooting threats both inside and out.

And then the group of freshmen led by Rayshaun Hammonds round out Georgia’s depth chart to make this the deepest group Fox has coached at Georgia. In situations last season where Georgia struggled to score and looked tired, they’re able to keep pace with opponents and outlast them.