For the first time in 10 years, the Georgia Bulldogs are headed back to the NCAA Tournament.
Mike White’s squad will be the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Regional and travel to Wichita to challenge No. 8 seed Gonzaga. Midwest No. 1 seed Houston and SIU-Edwardsville are the other two teams in the bracket with the Bulldogs, who will be making their first appearance in March Madness since 2015 when Georgia lost to Michigan State in the first round.
Georgia (20-12) and Gonzaga (25-8) will play on Thursday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 4:35 and be televised on TBS.
"Georgia's dancing. It's a great day," White said during a Sunday press conference. "We've got hoops ahead of us."
Thursday's meeting will be the sixth meeting between the Bulldogs. The two teams last met in 2014-15 with Gonzaga taking an 88-76 win in New York City.
"I think just to think back as a little kid, just always watching those games, especially during high school, teachers turning on every time in class," guard Silas Demary Jr. said. 'Just to be able to finally be a part of this moment, and especially being able to come back and do it a year or two, I'm just grateful and happy to be a part of it."
Overall, Georgia is making its 13th trip to the NCAAs. The Bulldogs will be looking for their first victory in the tournament since an opening round 85-68 win over Murray State in 2002. Georgia dropped the second-round game that season to Southern Illinois 77-75. The Bulldogs’ last three NCAA appearances (2008, 2011, and 2015) resulted in first-round losses to Xavier, Washington, and Michigan State, respectively.
Under White, the Bulldogs’ climb back to respectability has been a steady one.
After winning just six games in 2021-2022, Tom Crean’s final year as head coach, Georgia went 16-16 in White’s first season before going 20-17 in 2023-2024, capped by a semifinal appearance in the National Invitational Tournament.
This year, competing in what many have called the greatest and deepest season in SEC basketball history, the Bulldogs went 20-12, 8-10 in conference play before being eliminated from the league tournament by Oklahoma last Wednesday.
"Incredible, incredible," White said of his three-year journey as the Georgia head coach. "But we'll celebrate later this spring. We want to make some moments. We want to play well. Regardless, we want to play well, and that stuff will take care of itself. We'll talk more big picture in the spring, but we've come a long way. We all came to Georgia to do this, to get Georgia to the NCAA tournament."
A record 14 SEC teams made this year’s 68-team field.
"I mean, just how mind-blowing is that, even for somebody that's coached as long as you have? It's just incredible," White said. "The strength of the talent, the depth, the coaching, the fan bases, the facilities, the exposure is at an all-time high in college basketball, and the numbers finally back it up. We've been saying it for a few years now."
Credit a late-season surge by Georgia for making their appearance possible.
After losing 9 of 11 conference games, the Bulldogs’ NCAA chances were nil. But after playing Auburn close on the road, Georgia reeled off four straight SEC wins – including one against Top 5 Florida – to secure its spot in the tournament.
