NASHVILLE – Wednesday night’s loss to Oklahoma ended Georgia’s run in the SEC Tournament a lot quicker than Mike White had hoped.
Nevertheless, when the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament is announced on Sunday, the Bulldogs (20-12) are still expected to be part of March Madness for the first time since 2015.
“That would be incredible. That's what it's all about,” White said after his team’s 81-75 loss to the Sooners. “That's why we all came to Georgia, all of us, to build something.”
It’s been a steady climb for the Bulldogs under White, who took over the program three years ago after Georgia won just six games in Tom Crean’s final year as head coach.
The Bulldogs followed up in Year 2 with a trip to the semifinals of the NIT before their expected inclusion in the NCAA Tournament in Year 3.
For those worrying that Wednesday’s loss might have hurt Georgia’s chances, don’t bother.
It’s been a record year for the SEC, widely considered the toughest conference for basketball this year.
ESPN’s Joe Lunadri currently projects a record 13 teams from the conference will earn a bid, something that now seems likely thanks to Oklahoma’s win over Georgia and Texas’ victory earlier Wednesday against Vanderbilt.
In the NET rankings – the analytical system used by the selection committee to pick its at-large teams to the 68-team field – Georgia (No. 31) was the highest ranked of the eight teams playing in Wednesday’s opening round at Bridgestone Arena.
“Analytically, it's our worst loss. Think about that. That's how good our league is. That's how good our schedule has been,” White said. “Of all the teams that played today (in the SEC Tournament), the metrics will tell you that we're the best team,” White said. “The numbers will tell you that. Obviously, we just got beat. That team (Oklahoma) played better than we did.”
Bulldog freshman Asa Newell – who scored 21 points and pulled down 17 rebounds – said he’s already looking forward to playing in the NCAA Tournament.
“The SEC Tournament was just a great opportunity to play a game I love with my brothers. Unfortunately, we didn't go as far as we wanted to,” Newell said. “But, you know, I'm just blessed to be here, and we'd rather take this knock now than knock on the NCAA tournament. So, we're going to use this as fuel to the fire and get back to it.”
White said there’s absolutely no doubt his team belongs to make the tournament.
“The level of opponents that we've played all year, the fact that we got 20 in the regular season, the fact that we played Marquette pretty close, you beat St. John's, and you win your last four … you're playing as well coming to the SEC tournament as anyone in the SEC and the best league in the history of college basketball,” White said. “Our metrics are terrific. We’ve continued to improve throughout the entire year. We've got a ton of youth and not much winning experience, but these guys learned how to obtain some of that winning experience. I'm proud of our group.”
White is just happy his team’s not done quite yet.
“It's my favorite group I've ever been around. I could literally call practice at midnight tonight, and we probably would have a pretty good practice,” White said. “It's just the way these guys are. I'm anxious to get back to work.”
