Georgia Preview...

I don't know if Uga attends basketball games, but I do know that given our last trip to Butler, BG has a history of having trouble playing games with a live dog in attendance.

So, factor that into everything.

Anyway, the Falcons left first thing Saturday morning for Athens, Georgia.  This is part of the CBE Classic, which, much like the "tournament" BG played in last year, is one where BG plays but is not in the pool of teams who can advance.  You get to play extra games when you are in these events, and BG is even a host this year, which gives us 3 home games right in a row--good for our fans.

According to our game notes, BG has not played an SEC team since 02-03 when they played #2 Alabama ("Roll Tide").  The last win was over Ole Miss in 2001.  We have never played Georgia.  Georgia has only played one MAC team ever, beating Miami 10 years ago.

Georgia made the Big Dance last year, losing in the first round.  They had two players leave for the NBA early and one player graduate, and therefore start this year without a majority of their minutes from last year.  The consensus seems to be that this will present a setback to them, though they are still expected to have a very solid team.

They have played one game this year, beating Wofford by 13 points.  Note, that Wofford has made a name for themselves, but they are in a big rebuilding year and not what they were last year.

Georgia's pre-season RPI is in the high 50s, FWIW, and they were picked to be 8th in the SEC.

They feature one of the nation's top 25 recruits, Kentavius Caldwell-Pope, a 6-foot-5 guard.  He was their leading scorer against Wofford.  Gerald Robinson is one of the top PGs in the conference, and he is a senior, though he transferred in from the OVC.  They have another small senior guard, Dustin Ware, who was very efficient on offense last year and had 14 against Wofford.

Donte Williams had 13 boards against Wofford...he is 6-9, but he only averaged 5 minutes last year.  Georgia has young big men.

Obviously, this is a very tough assignment.  Road basketball is hard, and Georgia plays in a major conference and by all rankings should win this game.  However, things like this happen every day in college basketball, and Georgia did not have an overwhelming victory over Wofford....and a strong win or even a strong performance would help make a statement for our program.  I will have the "U" tuned in at 6!