You are what your record says you are. At 16-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play, Mike White's Georgia Bulldogs look to be a middle-of-the-pack team in a loaded league that should send close to 10 teams to the tournament. While Georgia may have played a weak non-conference slate, taking advantage of lesser teams has put the Dawgs into a very precarious spot heading into February.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Georgia will be laying 3.5 points at home to visiting Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon in what will be their final game of January. The associated moneylines have Georgia at -188 and Texas A&M at +155. The projected point total for this game is 173.5 combined points. Georgia loves to score the basketball, but the Bulldogs will give up a key bucket or two, too.
White, Marcus Millender, and the rest of the team need to focus and not let their last two games beat them again on Saturday. The second half at Texas last Saturday was the epitome of pitiful. Had Georgia even remotely cared about rebounding vs. Tennessee, Millender may not have been put in that challenging spot up against the clock. Again, those are Quad 1 losses, so beat this Quad 2 team.
As long as Georgia keeps this one close, its tournament chances will not fall out the window entirely.
Georgia is a multi-possession favorite over Texas A&M in a Quad 2 game
ESPN's Joe Lunardi had Georgia stumbling once again to a No. 9 seed in his latest Bracketology update on Friday morning. So rather than looking at Iowa in this projected bracket and probably UConn in the Round of 32, Georgia just needs to get down to business and beat Texas A&M. With what they have left on their schedule, Georgia should make the tournament with no more slip-ups.
What this means is as long as Georgia wins its three remaining Quad 2 games (Texas A&M, Texas, and at Mississippi State), as well as its lone Quad 3 game left (South Carolina), the Bulldogs should make the field with a respectable 20-11 (8-10) mark heading into the SEC Tournament. While Georgia has yet to lose a Quad 2 game (4-0), it did drop a tough Quad 3 game at home to Ole Miss at the buzzer...
In short, Georgia just needs to win its four remaining non-Quad 1 games to likely make the tournament. If they can get another Quad 1 win or two, that should improve their overall seeding. That being said, if Georgia were to lose a third SEC game in a row, that could be quite problematic. Not only would it be a Quad 2 loss for UGA, but it would suggest that everyone else on the slate can get them.
For now, the odds indicate that Georgia is going to bounce back and beat the Aggies at Stegeman.