Georgia basketball has seen its fair share of turmoil in the 2024-2025 season. Whether you want to say most of that turmoil was self-inflicted or just the weight of the Southeastern Conference, Georgia has overcome so much to be in the position it is in today.
The Georgia Bulldogs (19-11, 7-10 SEC) went from a bubble team to NCAA Tournament shoe-ins to last four in to first four out to an at-large selection. And that is just within the last week. If you are exhausted from reading that, you are not alone, it was not very easy writing it either, but just imagine how Mike White and his Bulldogs must feel.
Saturday afternoon’s home matchup against Vanderbilt will mark the end of one of the most tumultuous seasons in recent memory for Georgia basketball. And as much as Georgia could use a mental break, now cannot be that time because there are still big stakes on the line with the impending SEC and NCAA Tournaments on the horizon.
One last regular season victory in Stegeman Coliseum could station Georgia for better things down the road. First, it would put them at 20 wins for the season, a huge benchmark for any team with postseason aspirations. Secondly, it could position Georgia as the SEC Tournament 10-seed.
Possible SEC Tournament Seeding Scenarios
10-seed: Georgia beats Vanderbilt, Mississippi State beats Arkansas
11-seed: Georgia beats Vanderbilt, Arkansas beats Mississippi State
12-seed: Vanderbilt beats Georgia
With the SEC expanding to 16 teams, the tournament format was changed to accommodate the additional teams and reward the top teams for their conference schedule success. As a result, seeding will be split into three tiers that start tournament play on three different days for each tier.
Seeds nine through 16 will play on Wednesday with the four winners advancing to play seeds five through eight on Thursday. Those four winners would play the SEC’s top four seeds on Friday, followed by two Saturday semifinal games and a championship game on Sunday.
SEC Tournament Round 1 Seeding and Opponent Possibilities
With a victory on Saturday against Vanderbilt, Georgia could earn one of the top four seeds (No. 9-12) in the first round games on Wednesday.
That would put Georgia against LSU, who the Bulldogs easily handled at home 81-62 back on February 5th.
There is still a scenario where Georgia could drop as low as the 12-seed. If the Dawgs were to lose to Vanderbilt on Saturday, Arkansas would earn a higher seed as they hold the tiebreaker after their embarrassing loss to the Razorbacks after holding a commanding double-digit lead for most of the contest.
If Georgia got the No. 11 or No. 12 seed, it would play Oklahoma or Texas in round one, depending on the outcome of the Sooners’ and Longhorns’ head-to-head matchup on Saturday.
SEC Tournament Round 2 Seeding and Opponent Possibilities (if Georgia were to advance)
It would also set up a round two game against the No. 7 seed (as of today, that would be Ole Miss). The tournament’s 11th seed would play the sixth seed (Missouri) in the second round, and the 12th seed would play the fifth seed (Texas A&M).
Still work to be done
Georgia has accomplished and overcame a great deal this season, but there is still some tread left on the tires that is the 2024-2025 season.
Many of the basketball pundits, gurus and internet know-it-alls collectively believe that Georgia has done enough already to earn a seat at the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64 table. However, the goal for Georgia basketball at this point is to maximize their potential seeding. The best way to accomplish that is to not take their foot off of the accelerator and finish the drill against Vanderbilt.
What's Next for Georgia?
Georgia returns home to close out their regular season against Vanderbilt on Saturday at noon.