I was impressed as anyone with Georgia’s win over Arkansas on Saturday. There were so many things to note: Humphrey’s continued development inside the perimeter. Woodbury finally started to find his shot. Price and Bliss are becoming an effective tandem when Bliss plays well.

It was interesting to hear analyst Eddie Fogler note that Arkansas didn’t strike him as a very bright team. You could see that play out as Arkansas willingly got into Georgia’s preferred up-and-down style. The Dawgs were able to hit layups and jumpers, often in transition, and passing was generally sharp.

As pwd observes, we’ve seen flashes like this from the Dawgs before. Putting it together against Arkansas is one thing. Keeping it going in consecutive road games at Tennessee and South Carolina is another. We know that this team is an off-night from Humphrey and/or Gaines away from an ugly loss, but Humphrey especially has become more and more consistent of a scorer, and that’s just what this team needs to be successful. Now with Woodbury seemingly coming around and a nice supporting cast developing, are we foolish for starting to get our hopes up again?

One thing is becoming clear after a few weeks of SEC play: Georgia might be a sure tournament team if they played in the SEC West. There is some awful basketball being played over there.

You’d think that a game at Tennessee wouldn’t be the place to expect much consistency, but hopefully the guys will hold themselves to a better standard. A lot has happened since last March, but Georgia pushed the Vols to the buzzer in the 2006-2007 regular season finale. They are more than capable of playing with the Vols.

SEC Men’s Power Ranking:

1. Tennessee: Handling the role of favorite well for once.
2. Florida: Still a very quality club.
3. Vanderbilt: Need to beat better teams to be taken seriously.
4. Mississippi St.: Good start, solid defense.
5. Kentucky: Best of the rest?
6. Ole Miss: Shaky SEC start after undefeated non-conference slate.
7. Georgia: Can we play them all at home?
8. Arkansas: Disappointing start for preseason West favorite.
9. Auburn: Good upset win at home over Ole Miss.
10. South Carolina: Stole one at Arkansas; Odom’s farewell tour begins.
11. Alabama: More than missing Steele behind their 0-4 start.
12. LSU: Is John Brady still coaching this team?

Lady Dogs

Andy Landers had been stuck on 698 career wins at Georgia for over a week, but a return home to Stegeman served to put the Lady Dogs back into the win column. Ugly road losses at Auburn and Vandy gave Georgia a 1-2 conference record and three losses in their last four games. Behind 25 points from Tasha Humphrey, Georgia beat Alabama 71-53 on Sunday. Angel Robinson added 12 points and 14 rebounds.

I’ll say what the team couldn’t say in the press. Alabama isn’t good. They’ve improved slightly from last season when they were embarrassingly bad. A win over Bama isn’t much cause for celebration these days, and the fact that the margin in this game hovered around ten points for much of the afternoon isn’t a good thing. Georgia out-talented Alabama, and that’s about it. Turnovers in particular were devastating. Guard play, especially on offense, is becoming a big concern.

This is an important week for the Lady Dogs. They’ve lost three of their four true road games this season, and those three losses haven’t been pretty. They go on the road to face Florida this week. The Gators have been surprisingly good in conference play with a first-year coach, and they surely have to see a shaky Georgia team as a great opportunity to make some noise in the SEC. This Sunday the Lady Dogs head out to face Oklahoma in a nationally-televised battle of ranked teams. It’s billed as a Tasha Humphrey vs. Courtney Paris showdown, but the supporting casts will likely mean the difference.

A win in both these road games would be significant to right the ship, and beating Oklahoma would be noteworthy on the national scene. Landers’ next win will be his 700th at Georgia.

SEC Women’s Power Ranking:

1. Tennessee: A class of their own.
2. LSU: Defensively dominant with Fowles. Offense can sputter at times.
3. Vanderbilt: 2-2 with losses to UT and LSU.
4. Kentucky: Solid win over Auburn has them at 3-1 after some bad nonconference losses.
5: Georgia: Got a needed win over Bama, but still vulnerable. Key week for them.
6. Auburn: Win over Georgia the sole bright spot lately. Depth and suspensions taking their toll.
7. Florida: Playing well, first back-to-back SEC wins since 2006.
8. Ole Miss: Nice upset of Arkansas.
9. Arkansas: Unimpressive in conference play after soft nonconference schedule.
10. Mississippi St.: Embarrassed at LSU.
11. Alabama: 22 losses in last 23 SEC games.
12. South Carolina: Unacceptable loss to Alabama.