When you lose seven SEC games and beat no ranked teams during the season, you are fortunate to end up with a #8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That’s where the Lady Dogs find themselves this morning, and it will require a huge upset if the program is to earn its sixth straight Sweet 16 trip.

Georgia is the #8 seed in the New Orleans regional, and they will open play on Easter Sunday at approximately 2:30 against #9 seed Iowa in Norfolk, Va. Iowa was 21-10 overall and 13-5 in the Big 10, tying Ohio State for the regular season championship. Georgia and Iowa have two common opponents: both teams beat Mississippi State, and Iowa lost to Georgia Tech while the Lady Dogs pulled off a close win at home.

If Georgia advances to the second round, they’ll likely face #1 seed North Carolina. The game would be a high-profile between Tasha Humphrey and Erlana Larkins, but Carolina’s speed and depth has been too much for most teams to handle. First things first, though – Iowa has played well since the conference season started, and they’ll be a handful in the first round.

As Florida prepares for the NIT first round against San Diego State, Billy Donovan pulls out a motivational tactic usually seen during the season when it might actually do some good.

Coach Billy Donovan, feeling like his players had settled into a state of complacency and entitlement, banned them from Florida’s $12 million facility. He also told them they couldn’t wear any Florida attire.

For most of the free world, an edict not to wear any Florida attire is common sense and not punishment. If you thought this approach sounded familiar, you’re right.

Football coach Urban Meyer, who has developed a close relationship with Donovan, pulled a similar move in summer 2005. Meyer barred players from the locker room and told them they couldn’t wear orange and blue or anything with the Gators logo on it.

Georgia Men’s Basketball Sendoff Planned For Tuesday Afternoon
Fans will have the chance to send off the Georgia men’s basketball team on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at the Stegeman Coliseum’s loading dock. The Bulldogs will then depart to catch a plane in Atlanta on their way to the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Washington, D.C.

Tate Center Theater To Broadcast Bulldogs’ First Tournament Game

The Tate Student Center Theater will host a Viewing Party for the Georgia Bulldogs’ first game of the NCAA Tournament. SEC champions Georgia face off against Atlantic 10 champs Xavier on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 12:20 p.m.

Students are encouraged to bring their lunches and watch Georgia basketball together on the big screen. Seating is limited to the first 500 people, although the game will be shown on additional televisions in the Tate Student Center lobby.

As I mentioned earlier, Bobby Knight made some noise last night with his insistence that the NCAA Tournament either do away with automatic bids or expand the field to 128 teams so that "everyone’s happy."

What Knight and others lose sight of is that the tournament is first a system to determine a champion for Division I basketball.

If you are going to have a sanctioned NCAA Division I championship, the process must be open to every Division I conference and team. Football gets away with a system that excludes most conferences and teams because, as we hear so often, the NCAA does not recognize a national champion from Division 1-A. At-large bids are fine, and many of them might be more appropriate participants than some of the automatic bids, especially when so many of the automatic bids are handed out as the result of a weekends’ conference tournament.

But never forget that at-large bids are essentially grace. They are teams who did not qualify for the tournament by objective means and are included subjectively to round out a 65-team tournament. Until 1975 there were no at-large bids, and #5 Maryland was left out of the 1974 NCAA Tournament because they lost the ACC final in what some call the greatest game ever played. Imagine this year’s tournament without Duke, Texas, or Tennessee.

We know that bubble teams rarely make much of a splash past the first few rounds of the tournament. So when Knight and other power conference proponents make arguments that conference champions should be cast aside in favor of more major conference teams struggling to stay above .500 in their leagues, remember that it’s mostly about access for these bubble teams. Virginia Tech or any of the other bubble teams weren’t going to compete for the national title. What matters is status – playing on CBS this weekend and adding a 2008 NCAA Tournament banner in the arena.

It might be that recipients of automatic bids don’t belong playing with teams like UNC and UCLA. I’m not going to act as if Georgia’s spot in the tournament is anything but surreal. But I’m not going to take that away from legitimate conference champions just so some 9-7 ACC school can pretend that it belongs in the national title discussion.

Cowherd had a great point today – if we’re this hung up over the 65th seed to the basketball tournament, how bad will it get when we’re talking about the #8 or #16 seed in a football playoff?

The Musketeers, watching the SEC championship on Sunday afternoon, naturally got caught up in pulling for the underdawg.

Some of the Xavier players watched the SEC title game before tuning into the NCAA selection show at coach Sean Miller’s house and found themselves favoring the Bulldogs.
“We were actually rooting for them,” senior guard Stanley Burrell said. “They were the underdog. Now we get to play them. It’s crazy.”

We’ll have a deeper look at Xavier later, but when you point to Sundiata Gaines as Georgia’s strength, the Musketeers are able to play the Drew Lavender trump card. Burrell, Lavender’s backcourt mate, is the A10’s defensive player of the year and might draw the assignment to guard Gaines.

Kirk Herbstreit: You shouldn’t be part of the national title discussion unless you win your conference.

Bobby Knight: Automatic bids to conference champions keep better and more deserving teams out of the NCAA Tournament.

Here are the details about Georgia’s next game:

The Dawgs have earned the #14 seed in the West regional and will open play against #3 seed Xavier at 12:20 p.m. on Thursday in Washington, DC.

#14 Georgia vs. #3 Xavier
Thursday, March 20, 12:20 p.m. EDT
Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.

Tickets to the general public are SOLD OUT, but of course Georgia will receive an allotment. Here’s how to get tickets:

Tickets will go on sale starting at 8:30 am Monday, March 17 online via georgiadogs.com or by calling 1-877-542-1231. All tickets ordered are subject to availability. Basketball Enhancement Fund donors will receiver priority on allocation of all orders. All tickets ordered will be picked up at will-call on Thursday, March 20th.

Just saying it plainly does the job: Georgia beat Arkansas to win the SEC men’s basketball Tournament, cutting down the nets on Georgia Tech’s home court after a tornado forced the tournament to relocate from the Georgia Dome.

Georgia’s basketball team – the same one that wrapped up a 4-12 regular season in conference – just won the SEC Tournament and is on the way to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. There’s simply no historical perspective that applies. The Dawgs were the first #6 seed to even make the finals since conference expansion in 1992. It was Georgia’s first tournament championship since 1983.

Sundiata Gaines will no longer be remembered as a gritty, tough player and outstanding point guard. Oh, no – we’re way past that now. He is now a Georgia basketball legend. Leading this team to the tournament title – and calling the shot before the tournament started – is the stuff they write movies about. Georgia’s leader in minutes played looked broken and coasting on fumes midway through the second half of the championship. Somehow he found the legs to lead Georgia on an 11-2 run that provided just enough margin to hold off the Razorbacks when they looked poised to run past the exhausted Dawgs.

Make no mistake, this is the same team we saw all year, and now they’re champions and still playing. For some reason, for the first time in recent Georgia basketball history, Old Lady Luck was on Georgia’s pass list at the ticket window.

Jeff Schultz of the AJC notes that Kentucky officials were making sure that they got as many Wildcat fans into the game as they were allowed.  Hopefully Georgia’s staff will have the same clue and pack the pass list.  Don’t let them have unused passes.  We’re all family members for this game.

For those who can’t get to Atlanta, the game is now on ESPN2 and CBS at 3:30.  CBS will still produce the game, and the game will also be on CBS only in the Arkansas and Georgia markets.

Since I can’t sleep…

Georgia beat Arkansas 82-69 in Athens on January 19th to move to 2-1 in the SEC, and it dropped Arkansas to 2-2 in the league.  The score of 82 was Georgia’s highest point total in SEC play until the tournament.  The Dawgs led 34-27 at halftime and poured it on in the second half to win with relative ease.  A 16-7 run midway through the second half turned a 7-point Georgia advantage into a 16-point lead.

Key storylines:

• Billy Humphrey’s career-high 24 points.  Humphrey shot 60% from the floor, 4-of-6 from behind the arc, and sunk 8-of-9 free throws to lead Georgia in scoring.  Were his clutch baskets at the end of the MSU game a sign that he’s back?  The Dawgs need his offense badly if they are to have a chance at the title.
• Arkansas shooting 2-of-11 from three-point range.  The Dawgs played solid perimeter defense, and Arkansas never got going from outside.
• Georgia’s good shooting.  The Dawgs shot 51% from the floor and hit 6-of-13 from outside.
• Transition.  Georgia scored 12 fast break points to Arkansas’ 4.  Georgia had 21 points off of 17 Arkansas turnovers.  Georgia pressured the ball, and turnovers were a big part of the second half push.  The Dawgs might try to press again in the championship game, but watch the fouls, guys.
• Limiting the damage.  Charles Thomas led Arkansas with 13 points, and only one other Razorback was in double figures.  Georgia did a solid job against Weems and Beverly, two outstanding scorers. 

I’m sure that this weekend was the furthest thing from Dennis Felton’s mind back in January, but he wrote a pretty big check with his mouth that he hopefully will have to cash soon:

Dennis Felton said that if Georgia wins the SEC tournament, he will shave his mustache and his head.

Kudos to abhuddle on the UGASports.com hoops board for the great find.

It’s almost impossible to comprehend what has happened to the Georgia basketball team in the last 24 hours.  I tempered my thoughts after the Ole Miss win Thursday night (which now seems like 3 months ago) by reminding myself that it was an overtime win over a so-so team just for the right to get to the SEC quarterfinals.  In other words, exciting finish, but…big deal.

That’s all out the window now. 

Naturally all of us expected Georgia to adjust to the tornado, Friday night’s cancellation, the relocation to Tech, the noon start time, two games in one day, and Sundiata Gaines fouling out twice.  All in a day’s work to knock off two 12-4 SEC teams within 10 hours.  As Billy Humphrey said after the day’s second win, a tornado is nothing next to what this team has been through this year. 

All of a sudden the team that couldn’t buy a break all season has them in abundance and is on the precipice of the unthinkable:  an SEC tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.  A tournament that began as a death watch for the season and coaching staff has become one of the most memorable and unlikely runs by a Georgia team since, well, since a football team left for dead after Tennessee won seven straight to end its season.

Georgia has already made history by becoming the first #6 seed to play for the SEC title.  We might as well finish the story of stories off by winning the thing.

Fatigue is still very much a factor.  True, the Dawgs made it through the two-game gauntlet.  Whether adrenaline or just sheer will, they had enough to carry them at the end of the MSU game.  The night’s sleep and later start will help of course, but hopefully the team won’t wake up with their legs feeling like lead.

By the way, for Tim Brando and any Kentucky fans upset about a call or two…

The SEC has put its heads together and come up with a plan.  We found out last night that the remainder of the tournament will be played at Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum, and now we know the schedule.

The revised schedule:

Saturday, March 15
Game 8 – Georgia vs. Kentucky – 12 p.m. ET
Game 9 – Tennessee vs. Arkansas – 6 p.m. ET
Game 10 – Mississippi State vs. Winner of Game 8 – 8:30 p.m. ET

Sunday, March 16
Game 11 – Championship Game (Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10) – 3 p.m. ET

The biggest change is the attendance policy, and, given the situation, it makes sense.  It will be a bit surreal though:

Because of damage to the Georgia Dome caused by severe storms in Atlanta on Friday night, the remaining games of the SEC Basketball Tournament will be played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, on the campus of Georgia Tech. Arrangements for television broadcast will be announced as soon as they become available. Out of respect for public safety demands that are required in the aftermath of Friday’s storms, access to the remaining games of the championship will be limited to student-athletes’ family members, cheerleaders, bands and other credentialed individuals.

This is a minor break for Georgia – if anything can be considered a break in this situation.  In addition to Georgia being used to playing in front of empty crowds (Ba-dum-ching!  Thanks, try the veal.), the likely partisan Kentucky crowd won’t be a factor either.

Kentucky actually practiced at Tech this week…I’m not sure if Georgia did.  Georgia does play in this arena every other year, but it’s been a while, and the results haven’t been pretty lately.

Chuck Dowdle on WSB-TV, quoting Dennis Felton, reports that the SEC Tournament will move to Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum for the duration of the tournament. The AJC confirms. The Georgia-Kentucky quarterfinal will take place at noon on Saturday. Television coverage continues as usual.

There is no word yet on the semifinals, though we expect them to be played later on Saturday. Either Georgia or Kentucky is going to be at a big disadvantage in the semis.

Corey Butler has the right attitude:

“There’s a chance we could be playing two games in one day, which is kind of like the AAU circuit,” Georgia guard Corey Butler said.

“We could definitely pull it out, and we’d definitely be willing to play if it keeps us in the tournament.”

No word yet on ticket allocation, but this is going to be a huge mess. Check the news and get there early if you want to try to attend. Alexander Memorial seats almost 9,200 – almost a third of the Georgia Dome’s basketball configuration. There are probably 9,200 Kentucky fans per square mile in Atlanta this weekend.

I’m off to bed…I’m afraid that the view at sunrise isn’t going to be pleasant.

It has yet to be determined whether the Georgia Dome is able to host the remainder of the SEC Tournament. More severe weather is possible in Georgia on Saturday. Besides the state of the Dome itself, there’s still the question of asking tens of thousands of people to return to a possibly hazardous natural disaster scene downtown.

It seems unfathomable, but in an extreme situation, might the SEC decide to play the games elsewhere in metro Atlanta?

Philips Arena seems out. There is a concert scheduled for Saturday evening, and it’s right next door to the Dome. If there are concerns for public safety getting to the Dome, that would apply to Philips as well.

Gwinnett Arena is also booked on Saturday evening with an Arena League game.

Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech is yet another option, but is it available? Much of Tech’s athletic staff is either on spring break or at the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. I doubt they could prepare the arena.

It really does look as if it’s the Dome or nothing at this point. As Dennis Felton said in a telephone interview on WSB-TV, one could expect the NCAA Selection Committee to be pulled into the rescheduling discussion. The outcome of the SEC Tournament of course has major implications on NCAA seeding, and the Sunday evening selection show means that things in Atlanta must be settled unless the NCAA takes the unprecedented step of delaying the selection announcement.

I guess this is always an option.