Mike White accomplished something at Georgia that has not happened in a generation

It was only a matter of time. The Georgia Bulldogs have finally clawed their way back into the AP Top 25. While Kirby Smart's team is a regular fixture inside of the top 10 in football, just cracking the top 25 is a massive deal for the men's basketball team. In his fourth season leading the program, Mike White has just accomplished something that has not happened in Athens on the hardwood in years.

It is the first time since 2001-02 and 2002-03 UGA has had team ranked in back-to-back seasons!

Heading into Week 7, you are not going to believe where the AP voters have Georgia hoops ranked!

1. Arizona Wildcats (9-0): 1,500 points (42 first-place votes)
2. Michigan Wolverines (10-0): 1,470 points (15 first-place votes)
3. Duke Blue Devils (10-0): 1,406 points (3 first-place votes)
4. Iowa State Cyclones (11-0): 1,336 points (1 first-place vote)
5. UConn Huskies (10-1): 1,286 points
6. Purdue Boilermakers (10-1): 1,195 points
7. Gonzaga Bulldogs (10-1): 1,109 points
8. Houston Cougars (10-1): 1,079 points
9. Michigan State Spartans (9-1): 1,037 points
10. BYU Cougars (9-1): 1,017 points
11. Louisville Cardinals (9-1): 921 points
12. North Carolina Tar Heels (9-1): 794 points
13. Vanderbilt Commodores (10-0): 766 points
14. Arkansas Razorbacks (8-2): 726 points
15. Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-0): 655 points
16. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-3): 644 points
17. Kansas Jayhawks (8-3): 502 points
18. Illinois Fighting Illini (8-3): 483 points
19. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-3): 314 points
20. Tennessee Volunteers (7-3): 286 points
21. Auburn Tigers (8-3): 283 points
22. St. John's Red Storm (6-3): 250 points
23. Florida Gators (6-4): 200 points
24. Virginia Cavaliers (9-1): 200 points
25. Georgia Bulldogs (9-1): 82 points

Georgia may only be ranked 25th in the latest AP Top 25, but the Dawgs edged out the USC Trojans by 14 points for the last spot in. The Dawgs are 9-1 on the season with a Quad 2 win over Florida State, two Quad 3 wins over Xavier and Cincinnati, but only one Quad 1 loss to Clemson in overtime by three points. With SEC play rapidly approaching, Georgia could make it back into the tournament.

Radi Nabulsi of UGASports also shared a plethora statistical tidbits about this strong Georgia team.

Georgia is scoring at an alarming rate. White's Dawgs lead the nation in scoring offense (98.3 PPG), scoring margin (+27.7 PPG), fast-break scoring (27.6 PPG), and blocks (8.5 BPG). This team also loves to play above the rim, as illustrated by its 22.4-percentage clip of field goals that are dunks. White has his guys attacking the basket relentlessly and playing at a frenetic pace to its opponents off-balance.

White and his offensive juggernaut of a team are certainly overachieving early-season expectations.

Mike White has found his stride leading Georgia Bulldogs basketball team

When White left Florida to take over at Georgia, those in Gainesville were happy to see him go. The Gators are the reigning national champions under Todd Golden. Although Florida has the far better history as an SEC basketball school, Georgia being one of seven ranked teams in the league should matter, at least for the time being. The Dawgs begin SEC play on Jan. 3 when they host rival Auburn.

With three more non-conference games left to be played, all at home vs. Western Carolina, West Georgia, and Long Island, Georgia may very well be 12-1 heading into the new year. Interestingly enough, the football team and the men's basketball team could share an identical record if White's team holds serve and gets to 12-1. It would be quite the anomaly for only a few short days, though.

Overall, Georgia having meaningful wins in the non-conference over Xavier, Florida State, and Cincinnati, as well as sneaking one past Georgia Tech at home over a month ago, this really does help set up the Dawgs to make some noise in SEC play. Usually, the magic number of wins to be in a great position to make the NCAA Tournament is 20. Georgia may only need to win eight league games now.

For now, let's see how high Georgia can climb in the coming weeks before conference play begins.