No, the Georgia Bulldogs have not fallen out of the projected NCAA Tournament field. However, their recent activity on the hardwood has revealed a concerning trend... After the latest Bracketology update, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Dawgs dropping another spot. They are projected to be a No. 9 seed after having been a projected No. 7 seed two updates ago. Back-to-back losses will do that...
After putting forth an embarrassingly bad second half vs. Texas in Austin to lose 87-67 last Saturday, Georgia was primed to be upset by rival Tennessee at home on Wednesday evening. All it took was a Marcus Millender miscue, one that head coach Mike White defended, to lose to the Vols 86-85 in overtime. These might only be Quad 1 losses for 16-5 (4-4) Georgia team, but every defeat counts.
Going from a No. 7 seed to a No. 9 seed in the matter of a week is quite troubling. Lunardi has the Bulldogs projected to take on No. 8 Iowa out of Big Ten in the Philadelphia quadrant of the South Region in Houston. If the Dawgs were to get past the Hawkeyes in Philadelphia, they would have to play No. 1 seed UConn in the Round of 32. As you can see, this is why getting a top-seven seed is big.
Georgia is still in a great spot to make the tournament, but these last two games have been rough...
How can the Georgia Bulldogs improve their NCAA Tournament seeding?
With only 10 conference games left in the regular-season, all Georgia needs to do is win four of them to get to 20 wins and effectively be a shoo-in to make the tournament. To be totally transparent, they may not even have to do that to make the field of 68, based on what they have done thus far. Yes, the non-conference slate is not super impressive, but the Dawgs certainly navigated that to perfection.
Looking at their final 10 SEC games, Georgia has six more Quad 1 opponents, three more against Quad 2 teams, and one of the Quad 3 variety. With a Quad 2 win at home coming up vs. Texas A&M on Saturday, Georgia probably needs to win this to stop the bleeding and get back to playing competent basketball from start to finish. If it does that, then the chances of Georgia making the field are likely.
It has four-straight Quad 1 games after the Texas A&M game at LSU (Feb. 7), home vs. Florida (Feb. 11), at Oklahoma (Feb. 14), and at Kentucky (Feb. 17). Winning one of those games may have UGA close to lock territory of making the tourney. As long as it wins its three Quad 2 games vs. Texas A&M, at Texas, and at Mississippi State, as well as a Quad 3 at home vs. South Carolina, they should be fine.
At this stage of the game, if Georgia finishes on a 6-4 run with wins over Texas A&M, Texas in Austin, South Carolina, and at Mississippi State, as well as two Quad 1 wins somewhere along the way, we would be looking at a 22-9 (10-8) Georgia team heading into the SEC Tournament. You win a game there, and Georgia might be looking at a No. 7, maybe even a No. 6 seed. That is what must happen.
While the latest Bracketology update is humbling, it does suggest that Georgia will still make the field.