It still may be football season in the great State of Georgia, but the Bulldogs might have themselves an impressive hoops team to boot, too. After skating past LIU on Monday, Mike White's No. 23 Bulldogs improved to 12-1 in the non-conference. They have Power Six wins over Georgia Tech, Xavier, Florida State, and Cincinnati. Their only loss is by three to a 10-3 Clemson team in overtime.
So with SEC play beginning in earnest on Saturday at home vs. Auburn, let's take a look at how ESPN's Joe Lunardi views the Dawgs in his latest rendition of Bracketology... Lunardi has Georgia comfortably in the field as the No. 8 seed in the Midwest Region headlined by Michigan. Rather than getting Gonzaga right out of the gate like they did last year, UGA would face UCF in the No. 8 vs. No. 9.
For those who need a refresher, the No. 11 seeds are usually where the Last Four In typically reside. Georgia may be a contender to win this year's SEC Tournament, but the Bulldogs are projected to be an at-large team for obvious reasons. It should be noted that only Vanderbilt is still undefeated in the SEC. The Commodores went 13-0 in the non-conference. LSU also went 12-1, just like Georgia did...
Let's now unpack this a bit more to get a better understanding of what UGA needs to do to make it.
Georgia Bulldogs enter SEC play with a fantastic shot of making tourney
In Lunardi's breakdown of his latest Bracketology projections, Georgia is one of 10 SEC teams slated to make the field. Those teams would be Vanderbilt (No. 2), Alabama (No. 4), Florida (No. 5), Tennessee (No. 5), Arkansas (No. 6), Kentucky (No. 7), Auburn (No. 8), Georgia (No. 8 ), LSU (No. 10), and Oklahoma (No. 11). Vanderbilt would secure the automatic qualifying bid, with Georgia as the eighth SEC team in.
What is important to know is Georgia needs to more than hold its own in league play to merit inclusion in the NCAA Tournament. Right now, the Dawgs have one Quad 1 loss to Clemson, two Quad 2 wins over Florida State and Cincinnati, a Quad 3 win over Xavier, and nine wins over Quad 4 opponents. With 18 SEC games to be played, they have two more Quad 3 games, and a tougher road.
In years past, getting to around 20 wins in a Power Six league usually got a team into the tournament, but that was before realignment. It might be a tad less than that, give or take. It could be more. At this time, Georgia has 10 more Quad 1 games, six more Quad 2 games, and the aforementioned two Quad 3 games. Georgia did its part in the non-conference to create wiggle room, but it cannot be wasting it.
Ultimately, Georgia seems to have figured a few things out in the non-conference that may, or may not, translate into the season. This team loves to play at a break-neck pace offensively. It also loves to shoot threes, but they do not always make them either. White likes to use a deep rotation, but that could be unraveled in conference play. Georgia is still giving off the early vibes of a tournament team.
This may be a top-25 team heading into SEC play, but its season shall be defined in its conference.