Predictably, Georgia is in the NCAA Tournament. What also seems to be as predictable is that Georgia isn’t getting an easy path to the Sweet Sixteen, or even the Round of 32.
Here’s the bracket.
I’m sure that’s hard to see, so here’s a little better look for you:
Georgia will go up against Gonzaga, who, as an 8 seed, has the highest chances for an 8 seed to progress deep into the tournament. If they manage to upset the West Coast Bulldogs, then they get a date with a number 1 seed in Houston, who many have predicted to beat Tennessee and win the whole dang thing. Here the Regional breakdown predictors, from Kelly Ford:
As an overall look at the top contenders to make a deep run, based on advanced stats, here’s Ford’s breakdown. Not sure about Duke, especially with Cooper Flagg being questionable, but I think this drives the point home.
If you take a quick look at the Midwest Region, 6 of the 16 teams above are in the Region Bracket. 3 of the 16 are in Georgia’s half of the Region bracket alone. That’s the bad news. The good news? Georgia’s beaten three of those teams, including St. John’s, who just won the Big East title (yes, the Big East still exists).
Per usual, I won’t watch. But, if Georgia is for real, it won’t take long to find out. If they can go out an beat Gonzaga, this team can make some noise. If not, at least it’s better than where we’ve been for the past decade, and gives a sliver of hope that the basketball program has life again.
The game is scheduled for 4:35 pm on Thursday, on TBS. Yes, that still exists, too.
This will sound like I’m stating the obvious, but from the games I’ve watched this season, we win if the 3’s are dropping and we’re getting the rebounds. Of course it takes making free throws and 2 pointers in the paint as well to secure a W. If we’re off slightly, we’ll be chasing them all game and going home early. Either way, as you stated, an improvement from where we’ve been and a step in the right direction for building a better, more UGA like program.
Int’l March Madness post on St Paddy’s Day. Erin go bragh and time for Hoop Dawgs to be ELITE!
Top o the mornin’ to ya….
Worse possible seeding if you ask me. I was really hoping for a 10 seed so you avoid the 1 seed in the next round if you win the first game.
Tough draw, reminds me of our football schedule for last year. It would really be nice to get even one.
Tough draw, can’t be happy but mostly can’t be scared! #GoDawgs
Nothing to lose. Just let it all hang out. Dawgs have beaten the Big East (St. John’s), WAC (Grand Canyon), and SEC (Florida) champions, so let’s add the WCC (Gonzaga) to the list.
JP, how can I find Kelly Ford’s data? My google search didnt reveal anything
Just win I thought I was out they suck me back in.
Who believed we would be dancing in November? Who believed we would be dancing for most of February? Not many of us (your humble commenter included).
Anything that happens at this point is just gravy. No need to be intimidated by anyone after the gauntlet this team ran in the regular season.
Whatever happens this weekend … it’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog.