This is the way the season ends.

The forecast in Tampa calls for 80 degrees and sunny skies this weekend, so it should be expected that lightning – and tornadoes – did not strike twice for the Georgia basketball team. The season which, with a handful of pleasant and surprising exceptions, began slouching towards its inevitable end not long into the preseason NIT ended with a predictable loss to Mississippi State. As if to highlight the most glaring weakness of this year’s team, every guard on the lineup produced a total of just 16 points – only two points more than leading scorer (and departing senior) Terrance Woodbury accumulated by himself.

Now it’s on to the serious business – the new coach. We know (or at least are told) that the commitment is there and won’t be an issue. But will that be enough to lure someone from the small pool of proven major-conference winners, or will Georgia end up fishing in the mid-major pool anyway?

Regardless of the new coach it’s likely that there will be some changes to the composition of the team over the next few months. I’m not talking about the wholesale departures that greeted Felton; we already know that the incoming freshmen are fortunately still on board. But comments from sophomore point guard Zac Swansey give a little insight into how frustrated some of the returning players must be.

“I’m not 100 percent sure that I want to be here. I want to play, and I want to be with a program that wins. I’m not sure Georgia is that program.”

Hey – we want guards who can hit free throws and hold on to the ball, but you take what you can get.