Hold Your Horses: Why Mark Fox's Georgia Bulldogs Aren't As Far Along As You Think

I’m not going to argue against the nickname. In fact, I hope one day I’m able to embrace it. But for now, I’m just a little hung up on the fact that bulldogs are not hounds.

Though I am loathe make tournament predictions at this point, the ceiling of this program and their pursuit of said ceiling to this point is worth discussing.

In a situation as dire as that in which the Hoop Dawgs found themselves after last season, one must approach the program in terms of the progress and continued improvement of the same group of Dawgs that brought the suck to games against such college basketball luminaries as Texas A&M- Corpus Christi last year (a “Midnight Train to Georgia” if you will.).

While I can’t argue with your home and away and RPI stats, there a few things I know. Yes the Dawgs are 9-8 — against the 6th hardest schedule in the country to this point. Yes we are 1-3 against the SEC so far — against the top 4 teams in the SEC by most accounts. Whether away or at home, the only question worth asking at this point is: At this juncture in the Mark Fox era, did you expect us to have wins over two top 25 teams? I for one can’t remember the last time that happened.

Is Mark Fox the savior we’ve been waiting for? Only time will tell. Does he have the Dawgs in a position to compete against any team in the country from week to.week? I don’t believe that’s really up for debate.

Losses against Wofford and UAB early in the season don’t carry nearly as much weight when put in perspective of the continued growth of the season at large. While I appreciate your pessimism and the place from which it comes, at this point I don’t think any of us would be shocked if the Hoop Dawgs defeat the Gators in Gainesville, the Poultry in Columbia, the Jumpsuits in Knoxville, or the Calipari NCAA Probation Brigade at home… And for now that’s enough and is frankly beyond any of our wildest expectations of the first year of the CMF era.

UGA played the current best team in America closer than any other team. UGA has a much more athletic team than we do. For some reason, Billy-D has been a little off in recruiting athletes since the ‘04s departed and we returned to earth on the hardwood. Fox is starting to show what athletic teams can do – even if they aren’t stocked with big names and McDonalds AAs. I think UGA has a great chance to beat UF this week – but then again, any team can as long as we still have Dan Werner in uniform. Like UGA, we play much better at home, so I think it is more likely that UGA beats UF next month in Athens. But, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if UGA pulls the upset this week.