Georgia Bulldogs NCAA Tournament Bracketology: How the Fox Hounds Look and How the Fans Should Root
by T Kyle King on Feb 22, 2011 5:45 PM EST
in Georgia Bulldogs Basketball
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PrintPreviously, I provided a brief glance at the latest bracketology by Blogging the Bracket’s Chris Dobbertean. Chris since has offered a more thorough examination of the field of sixtysomething, and he sees the Georgia Bulldogs as the fifth and final SEC entrant into the NCAA Tournament.
The Fox Hounds are projected to be a nine seed after negotiating a slate including the third-seeded Florida Gators and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the fifth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats, the sixth-seeded Xavier Musketeers, the seventh-seeded Temple Owls and Vanderbilt Commodores, and the eighth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers. The Red and Black are expected to open the tourney in the Tulsa Pod of the West Region against the WAC champion Utah State Aggies. For the record, the last time a Georgia team took on the Aggies in the postseason, it turned out pretty well for the Bulldogs, and Utah State’s basketball program is best known for buying cheap backboards.
In short, it’s looking good for the Classic City Canines, but, if you’re hoping to see the Red and Black improve their situation, you can start by turning on your television tonight. At 7:00, the Mississippi Rebels take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on ESPNU, and, at 9:00, Tennessee tangles with Vanderbilt on ESPN. We are rooting for the Palmetto State Poultry and the Music City Mariners.
Why? South Carolina is in last place in the division with a 4-8 conference record, so it is unlikely the Gamecocks will catch the Bulldogs in the league standings. However, since South Carolina competes in the East and Ole Miss plays in the West, we’re better off at this point having the bad team we play twice in the regular season beat the bad team we play once in the regular season.
Regarding the game in Nashville, the Commodores are all alone in second place in the division at 8-4 and the Volunteers are all alone in fifth place in the division at 6-6. Georgia is tied with Kentucky for third place in the East at 7-5, a game behind Vanderbilt and a game ahead of Tennessee. We want the Big Orange to remain in fifth place so the Red and Black can finish in the top four in the division, thus assuring Georgia of a first-round SEC tournament game against one or the other of the West’s two sets of fainting felines, the Auburn Tigers and the LSU Tigers. A top four finish in the East provides the Hoop Hounds with the closest thing possible to a sure win in the first round of the conference tourney, thereby allowing Georgia to boost its resume for Selection Sunday with an additional victory.
As always, I am new to paying this level of attention to basketball, so, if I got any of that wrong, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to correct me in the comments.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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I'm ok with rooting for Vandy just because they're playing the Creamsicles...
But your reason works too.
"If there's one thing worse than chlamydia, it's Florida." ~ Emma Stone, Easy A
by RedCrake on Feb 22, 2011 5:57 PM EST via mobile reply actions
You know...
As always, I am new to paying this level of attention to basketball…
it’s kinda nice, isn’t it?
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
It's a fun game to watch and an exciting sport filled with grace, flow, speed, and power.
This season, my family and I have attended middle school girls’, high school girls’, and college women’s basketball games, as well as a men’s basketball game on the road, and my son and I will be attending this Saturday night’s home game. All that is immensely enjoyable.
Adding another avenue by which to suffer soul-crushing defeats that cause me to utter in the heat of the moment statements for which I will apologize later and/or that will be thrown up in my face two weeks subsequently? That I could do without, so just win, baby!
Go 'Dawgs!
Ah!, but...
…it’s those uplifting, unexpected, sometimes stunning victories that makes it all worthwhile. It’s like my golf game. I pay good money to ruin a great walk. But it’s that one shot I occasionally manage to pull out of thin air that keeps me coming back.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
by DavetheDawg on Feb 22, 2011 11:05 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
side note:
regular tickets for saturday’s game are sold out. Im impressed with how many people have jumped on the bandwagon and stuck out the ride
"Sure I steal bases. I just like to do it 4 at a time." -Konerko-
I hope it's rocking after beating UF. If we dont beat UF, I hope its like a bomb when off. Either way, we need to put fear into the gamecocks.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
I can only speak for two of us who will be present on Saturday night, . . .
. . . but my son and I will be there, loud, proud, and on time!
Go 'Dawgs!
Well, one of tonight's games went our way.
South Carolina held on to beat Ole Miss, but Tennessee came back to beat Vanderbilt. On the plus side, the Bulldogs’ win over the Volunteers now carries more heft, but, on the minus side, Georgia’s chances of finishing in the top four in the East took a hit.
This is like economics: virtually all news is both good and bad.
Go 'Dawgs!
Or...
In a crazy world (and let’s be honest, it wasn’t so long ago that a tornado hit the Georgia Dome), its possible, though not likely, that we could finish 2nd in the East.
A win on Thursday and almost anything is possible. From then on, we certainly have one of the easiest schedules.
"If there's one thing worse than chlamydia, it's Florida." ~ Emma Stone, Easy A
by RedCrake on Feb 23, 2011 12:35 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I hadn't read this until this morning...
…so I was rooting for the Volunteers last night for the very reason you just stated. It seemed to me that, in a season with few marquee wins for the Dawgs, we need every break we can get with that. Vanderbilt has beaten us twice, so I was fine with them losing, but the last thing I wanted was for the Vols to fold in the final games of the season and turn our marquee road win into another “meh” game.
by hailtogeorgia on Feb 23, 2011 8:35 AM EST up reply actions
This whole discussion brings to mind an interesting feature of basketball.
In football (for me, anyway), it’s the conference championship that matters. In games not involving Georgia, what matters most is how the outcome affects Georgia’s chances of getting to the SEC championship game. In some other sports (e.g., golf, swimming), the conference championship is decided not during the regular season but at a specific event. Then there’s basketball (and tennis, baseball, softball) that has (1) a conference champion based on the season, (2) a conference tournament champion, and (3) a berth in (and seeding within) a national tournament.
It appears to me that the consensus among fans is that the berth in the national tournament is the most important thing in basketball. I’m on board with that, now that a regular-season championship is out of reach, but it still feels a little strange.
Yep.
If winning the conference tournament gave you any better chances of winning the national title (as it does in football), then I think it would be given more importance. As it is, it doesn’t matter. Kentucky dominated the SEC last year and still lost in the Sweet Sixteen…which is what people remember. Syracuse in 2002-2003, on the other hand, won the Big East tournament title (not the regular season), but ended up winning the National Title. Carmelo, even if he hadn’t panned out in the NBA, would be remembered for leading the Orange to the title. John Wall, on the other hand, will just be another name in a long line of talented one-and-dones in a few years.
by hailtogeorgia on Feb 23, 2011 10:55 AM EST up reply actions
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