This was hard to swallow.
Two consecutive years, two exact same results for both the football and men’s basketball programs. Lost twice to teams in the Sugar Bowl for football, and twice in the first round of the NCAA Tourney.
Two programs, two different issues, if you ask me. For our football team, I still question the wisdom of having a “bye” in the longest tournament on earth, and the freshness of the team coming off a long layoff. THe only body of work to compare it to for football would be the first round of the CFP in 2017, 2021, and 2022.
In three opportunities, Georgia found itself in a barnburner of a game that we were fortunate to win. In the 2018 Rose Bowl, an opportune kick by Blankenship before halftime and a fortunate field goal block allowed Georgia to get the W. Against Ohio State in the 2023 Peach, it took a missed kick to win in another barnburner. Georgia’s other openind round win was a comfortable whipping of Michigan in 2022, but we all know how Michigan would do if they didn’t have an abundance of tape and knowledge of play calls to win a game, so there’s that.
The Sugar Bowls that followed were equally frustrating in 2024 and 2025. I could give us a pass in 2024 due to injuries and breaking in a new quarterback in the biggest game of his young life. 2025, though, seemed to be a bit of a mystery with offensive production where it seemed every play ended with Gunner on his back or being folded like a lawn chair by yet another guy from Ole Miss’s defense. I saw these less as going up against unexpectedly better competition and more about a team having ample time to prepare for us and know our tendencies. Is it predictability (let’s face it, Notre Dame and Ole Miss both knew they were playing in the second round and would hardly have to lift a finger to beat their first round game) or is it cobwebs and rust from the bye?
For basketball, it’s been a Dr. Jekyl and Dr. Jekyl kind of endeavor, both times coming out flat and getting pistol whipped in both contests. Not even competitive. I’m not sure that anyone needed to prepare for a team that came out and treated the NCAA tournament with the same seriousness my friends had when we’d visit the SPACenter (now Ramsey Center) to play a pickup game of three on three. I don’t think that’s preparation of scheme, that’s somehow on the coach. Or does it lie somewhere else?
Football, even with the flaws of NIL and Portal, seems to have consistency in focus on messaging whereas basketball feels more like “who’s on our team this year…Blue Cain is just a junior? Feels like he’s been here seven years”. Is that White, or is that the nature of the game? How much does chemistry and consistency play a roll in postseason success in college basketball and is Mike White built for it?
Discuss.
Here is part of the problem, but only a part. This is reported spending per each school, but not NIL.
There are a couple of schools above us that I am surprised can outspend us. I have no clue what our NIL is. I am pretty sure that it is competitive with St Louis (unlike our team), but this is not good from any viewpoint. If this is truly indicative of our support, how much better results can we expect? This chart has been published in any number of sports sites.
Tennessee – $23,183,445
Texas – $22,403,330
Arkansas – $21,254,027
Kentucky – $20,787,671
Auburn – $20,535,097
Ole Miss – $18,228,378
Alabama – $15,230,392
Missouri – $14,354,000
Texas A&M – $14,318,327
Oklahoma – $13,662,135
Mississippi State – $12,220,602
LSU – $11,104,405
South Carolina – $11,074,153
Georgia – $10,400,030
Note: Florida and Vanderbilt were excluded from the list.
I think the football part of this is kinda BS for both UGA and OSU. Both earned byes so they didn’t get an easy win on their home field to start the CFP. On top of that, in Georgia’s case, one of the football loses with a QB that was getting his first start.
I say, “whatever” to this stat.
As Sanford wrote, I discount the football side of this. Losing a game by 3 on the last play of the game after a stupid call to blitz on 3rd down is very different from getting worked by an Atlantic 10 team like we were a 15 seed.
I didn’t like that we lost to ND in 24, but I understood it.
The 2024 and 2025 football results are quite easy to explain. Mike Bobo’s offense is objectively very easy to prepare for. Other SEC coaches have said the same time and time again. The final results will not change while Best Friend Mike is still employed. Sad but true.