Georgia basketball hasn’t stepped up to the rest of the Dawgs’ standards

The Georgia Bulldogs tipped off against Auburn Wednesday night inside Auburn Arena, the atmosphere was electric, and the Auburn team was just as excited.

Hopefully, the  J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics, Josh Brooks, took note of this because while the football team, women’s basketball, and while the other squads have raised the bar in Athens, the men’s basketball team continues to struggle.

The talent difference was extremely obvious, and seeing that as a Georgia fan is embarrassing. Stegman Coliseum should rock as Auburn’s does, but sadly it has not in a long time.

Georgia has some of the country’s top basketball talent, but it has been a while since the Dawgs have kept any Peach-state talents. Anthony Edwards was the last bright spot.

From transfers and other things, Georgia basketball has become the laughing stock in the SEC.

Georgia basketball hasn’t risen its standards like the Lady Dawgs or the other athletic programs.

The Dawgs entered Auburn with a six-game losing streak. In some of those games, Georgia held their own, but against Auburn, they never had a prayer.

Georgia was outscored 31-13 in the last eleven minutes of the first half. For Georgia to be trailing 50-27 at halftime should make Georgia fans’ blood boil. An 83-60 loss is the lowest I can remember.

With Georgia football coming off its first National Championship in 41 years, why should Georgia fans settle for being just a “football school?” Let’s strive to be an everything school.

Why should only football be elite? Georgia’s women’s basketball team is No.13 in the polls, the Gym Dogs are in the top-30, and Georgia’s baseball and softball teams are in their pre-season top 25s.

Even the equestrian team is the defending national champions. Georgia golf, tennis and swimming are annually competing for national championships.

However, there is one outlier, and the men’s basketball program has been struggling for years.

Former coach Mark Foxx did a great job recovering the program from the Dennis Felton era. Then current head coach Tom Crean was brought in to do more — to make deeper NCAA Tournament runs and compete for SEC Championships. However, Crean hasn’t entirely accomplished any of those things. Instead, the program has taken a downhill turn.

Georgia should never come into a game as a 21.5 point underdog. The culture needs to change quickly. Watching former Georgia player KD Johnson lead No. 2 Auburn is sickening. Hearing the Auburn crowd go crazy when he touches the ball, knowing he could be doing that in Red and Black uniform and should be.

So let’s all hope that when Brooks comes off cloud nine from the football championship, he makes a move, and there is some change in the men’s basketball program. While it may not be in the middle of the season, something needs to change because the other programs are taking off while the men’s basketball hasn’t even launched.