Georgia Sports Blog: March 2008

March 31, 2008

UGA Men's Basketball Banquet Info

You are invited to the annual basketball awards banquet to be held on Tuesday, April 22, at the Athens Country Club. There will be a cash bar from 6:00-6:30 pm, and we’ll start eating around 6:30. The attire for this event is business casual.

It has been an amazing year for the team. Come help us celebrate their tenacity, perseverance, SEC Tournament Championship, and the trip to the NCAA Tournament.

We have two departing seniors, Sundiata Gaines and Dave Bliss, who weathered all manner of storms in their career at UGA. They were extremely instrumental in providing superior leadership to the team. Come out and give them, the rest of the team, and the staff the thanks and appreciation they deserve.

Ticket Prices for the Event:
Tip-Off Club members:
Above the Rim Circle -- 2 free tickets. Additional tix $40
Coach’s Circle -- 2 free tickets. additional tickets $40
6th Man Circle -- $40
Individual Level -- $40

Family Of Team Members -- $40

Non-Tip Off Club Members -- $50
Club members who are eligible for free tickets should RSVP 5:00 pm Friday April 18, by sending an email to doug@ugatipoffclub.com. Please indicate how many of your free tickets you will be using. If you need additional tickets, please go to the web site http://www.ugatipoffclub.com/ to purchase them.

You may also RSVP by calling 706-338-1645 before 5:00pm Friday April 18.

You must pay for any additional tickets prior to the event and no later than 5:00pm Friday, April 18. Visit UGATipoffClub.com to purchase additional tickets or by calling 706-338-1645 before 5:00pm Friday April 18.

We also anticipate that copies of the plaque’s given to each team member will be available to Club members, but only if ordered when you RSVP for the banquet. These will be personalized and $75/each and would be quite an addition to your Bulldog paraphernalia wall!

We expect a large turnout this year. Don't delay.

(Source: UGA Tip Off Club)

PWD

Spring is in the Air

Some articles that caught my eye tonight...

Spring Practice - As you've probably already read, the big scrimmage on Friday was sort of all over the place. We're still struggling along the offensive line, yet we're making big plays. It's your basic spring freak show. I think some of the OL issues will sort themselves out when Clint Boling returns from his battle with Mono.
Richt landed a safety for the 2009 signing class. It's the 6th commitment of the year. I have no idea how good the kid is, but we're so strapped with limited scholarship numbers this year (only 15 graduating seniors) that he must be good to get an offer this early.
The Hottness - Some web site has ranked the schools with the hottest co-eds (click with a bit of caution). I don't get why they used such an overwhelmingly trashy photo of the Auburn girl. AU has its issues, but its Arizona State that has the porn star rep. Anyway...we'll get a chance to gauge the ASU level of human attractiveness on Sept. 20th of this year. My biggest issue with the ranking is South Carolina coming in at #6. As. If. I've been there 11 times, and there's no comparison between Cola's talent and Athens' finest. Also, any list that has Ole Miss at #5 was constructed by dudes that have never visited their campus.
Clemson Recruits - The innerwebs have been abuzz after the photos of a kid who appears to be Clemson recruit Kenneth Page surfaced on MySpace. In the pics, he's holding a big wad of cash and the immediate assumption is that CU is back up to their old "Danny Ford 'Cruitin(TM)". The estimates on the cash stack put it at $5,000-$20,000. I'm of the opinion that positively nothing comes of this. First off, why would you assume that it's recruiting related? There's no NCAA Compliance Rule against having sketchy friends, riding dirty or being a dumbass. There are laws against some of those issues, but what's he going to do ... confess? Short of a confession or a wire transfer receipt accidentally handed to the NCAA, this is a non-event.
Hunker Down You Hairy Horses - Apparently, we rode 'em hard. No insight into whether or not we put them up wet. UGA won the Southern Equestrian Championship over the weekend.

Richt's Trip - Richt's upcoming trip to the Middle East is landing good press all over the place.
Spring Games Gone Wild - I sent an email to the folks at Butts-Mehre asking "Why doesn't UGA have blow out spring games with big concerts and shenanigans like other schools are planning?" Well, it turns out those things might not be in NCAA Compliance. Bama has canceled the Alan Jackson concert that was tied to the A-Day game because of NCAA questions. Speaking of Spring Flings in the state of Alabama...Auburn picked an odd choice for their spring concert. Tuberville probably doesn't approve.

So there's that. Oh yeah...and Furman Bisher is very old (warning: profanity).

PWD

March 30, 2008

Official Gym Dog SEC Championship T-Shirts
Suzanne Yoculan's Gym Dogs won yet another SEC Championship on Saturday at the Gwinnett arena. The most intense drama of the night wasn't associated with the beam, floor exercises or vault. No, it was the scoring that left everyone leaning forward in their seats.

In a scene similar to the 2000 Presidential Elections, the hanging chads were sorted out and the Gym Dogs prevailed over Alabama. This was Yoculan's 16th SEC Title at UGA. She has more SEC Championships than all other conference members combined.

I've always found Yoculan entertaining and a great quote. I particularly enjoy her rivalry with Sarah Patterson at Alabama. I'm sure she got an extra kick out of beating the Tide in such a controversial manner. I quote this all the time, but SY's best work came on the Finebaum show in 2006 when asked about the Bama coach:

"I don't believe in failure. I'd rather go out on a limb now and have it break once and a while than to never go out there. That's just my approach. It's offensive to some people, but it wins for Georgia. So I recruit athletes who can embrace going for it.

I don't use nouns when I can use verbs. I don't call my team "underachievers." I say that they are "underachieving." I don't call Sarah Patterson a "loser," I said "don't gripe about losing." I don't hate anything but cauliflower and turnips."

For more articles on the Gym Dogs and Suzanne's rivalry with Patterson:

Georgia wins SEC Title in Gymnastics

Bama lands second place

Suzanne on Finebaum

Cat Fights

PWD

March 29, 2008

Major Blog Overhaul Sort of Complete

Over the weekend, I revamped the technical guts of the site in order to:

Improve Wireless Access - The site was a train wreck on many wireless devices. It should be much easier to view now. It still is not optimized for the Blackberry, Treo or iPhone, but it should be better.
Implement Better Navigation - I want you to find the content you're looking for faster. That's why I revamped the navigational stuff over on the left side. The monthly archives are now in drop down menu, you can find articles about our rivals faster, and view hotter topics.
Better Integrate with Social Networking Sites - The "Share on FaceBook" feature wasn't working like it should have. Once I re-implement that feature, you will be able to distribute your favorite articles online much easier.
Improve Readability - I lost some readability features such as "peak-a-boo" posts in the last upgrade. I'm planning to bring those features back over the coming weeks, and it'll be easier to do now with the technical guts improved.
Accelerate Page Loads - It seems that the new blogger templates have faster page loads than the old template.
Improve Code Maintenance - None of you care about this, but I do.
Improve Advertising - I lost a advertising opportunity last week because I couldn't deliver some custom functionality in the old blog framework. I can provide that now. Daddy needs a new pair or shoes.

There are still a variety of issues that I want to clean up. Some are cosmetic, and others are technical. If you're seeing problems, drop me a note in the comments section.

I know that it doesn't look that much different, but it is on the backend. Long time readers (who share my geekitude) know that I went to the XML blogger template once before. I ditched it then because I couldn't do some custom things that I wanted. Those things are now possible.

Thanks for your patience over the weekend.

PWD

Just because

Posting this brought me a tiny bit of enjoyment. God bless the Dawgs.

PWD

March 28, 2008

Reminder: Ticket Order Deadline is Monday

Renewable season ticket orders are due March 31. If you haven't gotten you application in yet, you've got the weekend to get it done. I spoke with the ticket office recently and came to a couple of fairly obvious conclusions:

1. This isn't the year to try to move into better seats. Only one-half of one percent (.5%) of season ticket holders gave up their seats this year. This means there's no where to move to, even if you upped your contribution.

2. We are bringing a horde of folks to Tempe, Arizona. The ticket office has already sold their allotment of tickets for the Arizona State game. That's with, I would guess, a significant percentage of season ticket holders yet to place their orders. We did get a small number of lower level tickets, but all have already been taken by donors with scores of over 100,000 points. Only upper level seats remain.

CLARIFICATION: The fact that Georgia already sold it allotment does not mean that you can't get tickets. If your score is higher than someone else who requested tickets, you come first. The fact that the ticket office already has enough buyers to sell out their allotment, however, is a sign that there is going to be high demand.

See Also
-- Advice from ASU fans: where to eat, stay & party - DevilsDigest.com

Quinton

March 26, 2008

Richt to Reshape the War Effort

After five years of mixed success in Iraq, America is sending in Mark Richt. Top administration officials reacted: "We've had five years of mild success in Iraq, but our main rivals keep outsmarting us. Our offensive operations have become predictable and the leadership in our defensive operations is suffering from constant turnover. These problems have resulted in average performance by a superior force. We've recruited some outstanding people, but keep underperforming. Richt has shown his ability to confront such problems and achieve marked success at the University of Georgia. That's why we're sending him to the Middle East."

Coach Richt is hopeful that Dave Van Halanger, 5:00 AM mat drills, and the patented hidden ball play fake will give American forces strength, discipline, and the element of surprise. The troops are already looking forward to seeing Richt backflip off Saddam Hussein's old gold plated diving board into the palace swimming pool. Plus, Tommy Tuberville is coming along to remind Richt of the importance of a strong ground force.

Seriously, can we get a collection together to buy Coach Richt some sort of bulletproof union suit and pith helmet? Can we at least ensure that he can only be transported in a Rhino Runner bus? I know troop morale is important and I support sending Tuberville over there, but why can't we send Urban Meyer instead of Coach Richt?

Quinton

March 25, 2008

SEC Basketball Tournament Ticket Refunds

The SEC released refund information on those basketball tournament tickets that went unused after a tornado caused glass and insulation to rain down upon Atlanta, moving the games from the Georgia Dome to the North Avenue Trade School. Those of you who still have your unused tickets need to decipher the requirements set out in this statement from the league and get your money back. Looks like you have to take them back from where's you got 'em. If you bought them from a scalper or through a ticket broker, uh, good luck. (Not that there's anything wrong with a good ticket broker.)

Quinton

Spring Practice Profiles: In Search of Sgt. Hulka

"An army without leaders is like a foot without a big toe.
And Sergeant Hulka isn't always gonna be there to be that big toe for us.
I think that we owe a big round of applause to our newest,
bestest buddy, and big toe... Sergeant Hulka." -- Bill Murray
Quick recaps on articles of note over the past few days:

OLine Looking for a Big Toe

Wilson breaks leg. King tweaks knee

Defense continues to dominate

Coach Lilly and Tight End U

Walter Hill opening eyes at WR

Tony Wilson's broken ankle

Tony Wilson's Leg

Pre-Spring, my biggest areas of concern were the lack of proven leaders along the offensive line, unproven WRs along side Mo Mass and speed rushers at defensive end. The headlines from the past two days do little to make me less nervous about the first two issues.

Tony Wilson is a devastating blocker at WR, and he should be back for the season opener. Both of those are good things, but he could really use some off season practice sessions with Stafford to improve his catching skills. Here's hoping he gets well soon.

Josh Kendall's article on DawgPost.com about the need for a leader to step up along the OL doesn't shock me. They've got time to find their "big toe" (as Billy Murray would say), but someone needs to step up sooner rather than later...especially with Clint Boling out for Spring with Mono.

Other:
And not player or team news, but David Ching of the Columbus-Ledger has been promoted to full-time coverage of the Georgia Bulldogs. David will be moving to Athens to cover all UGA sports. As an avid reader of his work, I'm thrilled to get more quality coverage of our Dawgs. He was previously only covering football for the paper.

See Also:
-- Stripes Introductions - Youtube

PWD

Felton Looks Towards Next Year

A few days ago, the Athens Banner-Herald went one on one with Dennis Felton to discuss his thoughts on the 2008-2009 Georgia Bulldog basketball team. Felton is clearly optimistic about the future -- as he should be.

To me, the entire issue facing Georgia Basketball boils down to this question:

Can we capitalize on the SEC Tournament Championship to build a foundation for long term success? Or will this be the basketball version of Georgia's 1990 National Championship in Baseball?

The '90 Baseball Title was a wildly unexpected event that Coach Steve Webber could never come close to replicating. Will we go the Steve Webber route, or the Mark Richt 2002 route where we leverage a defining championship moment to "blow the lid off the program."

There are plenty of other examples of programs and coaches not building on their "One Shining Moment." Consider these two coaching one hit wonders:

Paul Hewitt's 2004 GT Squad -- The Yellow Jackets have been unable to capitalize on their '04 NCAA Finals appearance. Hewitt has gone 66-58 overall (27-37 in ACC play) with two losing seasons and two NCAA Tourney appearances in the four seasons following his one great season with the Nats. Overall, he is 114-102 in the seven years not involving the big '04 run.
Mike Davis' 2002 Indiana Hoosiers -- Obviously, the Hoosiers aren't a one hit wonder, but is Mike Davis? In the six years following the Hoosier's NCAA Finals appearance, Davis has gone 107-80 with only 2 NCAA tournament trips at IU and UAB. He was completely unable to capitalize on his success at IU following his big run in Year 2.

Going Forward:
Felton's success going forward depends on shoring up the structural problems with the program around the talent gaps, player attrition and offensive scheme. I'm more optimistic about addressing the talent and attrition issue than the scheme problems.

Talent Gap (Slashers): The program desperately needs a slashing wing player who can attack the basket. Mike Mercer filled this role nicely for Felton last year, and Sundiata Gaines was aggressive from the PG position as well. Woodbury can do this a little, but it's not the strongest part of his game. UPDATE: UGASports.com reports that Travis Leslie has committed to enroll for the 2008-2009 season. He might be exactly the type of player we need here. (Leslie = 3 stars via Rivals.com / 4 stars via Scout.com)
Talent Gap (Bombers): The offense needs two consistent long range bombers. Woodbury and Humphrey are both very streaky and both seniors. With the three point line moving back a little next season, we're going to need more bombers in the pipeline. Felton feels like Troy Brewer can put on the muscle to become that type of player. I hope he's right, but I'm skeptical. Regardless, I think the program desperately needs more point marksman to make this offense go. Particularly after Woody and Billy leave.
Player Attrition: Felton has yet to make it through a complete season / off season without losing a key player. He feels that he's getting a better quality person and player into the system now, and attrition should go down. I agree with him. That said, the best way to keep players in line is to win! When players see the fruits of coach's hard ass approach, they are much more willing to listen to him and fall in line. The SEC tournament will hopefully go a long way in helping convince the existing players and potential recruits that Felton's approach will / can work.
Offensive Scheme: I still think this is a train wreck. The nine minute second half scoring drought against Xavier in which we only made one field goal did little to eliminate my five year old concerns in this area. I don't expect the scheme to fundamentally change any time soon. However, better players make even the worst schemes look better. Winning brings in better players...as evidenced by Travis Leslie committing this year.

If Felton addresses the talent gaps and stabilizes the attrition issue, the scheme will become less of a problem. If those three things are addressed, then this tourney title can become a solid foundation for long term success, and not a house of cards.

The potential is there.

PWD

March 24, 2008

Former UGA Player Walker Atrice Dies

The AJC reports that Walker Atrice who played for UGA from '95-'98 passed away Saturday after a Golden Gloves boxing match in Atlanta. Per the AJC:

According to UGA's football media guide, Atrice attended Lakeside High School in DeKalb and was an honorable mention All-State football player. He was redshirted at Georgia in 1995 and played a reserve role the next three seasons.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the Atrice family.

See Also:
-- Walker Atrice - Knuckle Up Fitness
-- Images on Flickr - Neva Spell

PWD

Spring Football

I know that I've discussed spring practice a lot less than anyone (especially me) could have anticipated. Between ramping up behind the scenes for the anticipated basketball coaching search (a lot of effort that thankfully no one will see anytime soon) and the jaw dropping SEC Tournament run, I've been distracted by the bright shiny object of something other than football.

We'll switch back in anticipation of G-Day and beyond shortly.

PWD

March 23, 2008

Cinderella is a Bracket Busting Skank

Cinderella is a very dirty girl. She has taken her naughty ways into my life and soiled my bracket. She didn't so much as place a note on the night stand before leaving me a broken man.

It's one thing to let Davidson, Villanova and Western Kentucky advance to the Round of 32, but it's an entirely different deal to have them knock one of my Final Four teams to the curb so very, very early. Damn you Dell Curry's son.

I have only been correct on 32 of 48 picks in the Yahoo Pick 'Em. That puts my prognostication skills -- which are far inferior to my procrastination talents -- at the lowly 59th percentile on YahooSports. There are Cricket fans in India with better brackets.

Sigh.

At least UCLA is still alive. Thank you Ben Howland. Thank you for sending Cinderella back to her step-sisters to mop and sew their dresses. Without your belief in the Big Guy advancing, I would be hopeless.

Ben Howland...you are a great American. And Cinderella...we had good times. But please, keep your clinic visiting body away from the Bruins. Please.

See Also:
-- Afternoon Madness - DeadSpin

PWD

(image: CostumeShop.com. Also, this site does not condone the belief that the hotty in the pic above is anything other than a woman of extreme virtue.)

March 20, 2008

Come on Home Fellas. We've got Banners to Hang

Three separate forces converged on Georgia in their first round loss to Xavier. The Bulldog offense fell to pieces in the second half resulting in a nine minute stretch with only three points. That problem was compounded by "Refs Gone Wild" as the officiating crew awarded 33 free throws to Xavier while the Dawgs only shot five. And lastly, Xavier is really damn good defensively.

But none of that matters right now. All that matters is that Georgia just completed one of the greatest weeks in Bulldog basketball history.

The team will open the season next year with two important lines added to the banners hanging above the score board. We'll add one for SEC Tournament Champions, and we'll add another for NCAA 1st and 2nd Rounds. Any season that ends with two more banners on the wall is a good season.

The only other thing left to say is "Thank You" to Dave Bliss and Sundiata Gaines.

See Also:
-- Felton's team shows heart - AJC
-- Honoring Gaines - AJC

PWD

CBS = WTF?

I'd love to understand why the hell this game isn't being broadcast in Atlanta in glorious HD. I'm watching on normal CBS. If you're TIVO/DVRing this thing, I hope you recorded regular CBS. If you recorded the HD channel, you're totally hosed.

It was the Kansas game earlier. I mean really. Has anyone looked at a map lately? We're no where near Kansas.

Anyway -- back to the TV.

America's Laughing Stock to America's Team

Today's New York Times includes a feature story on the 2008 Bulldogs titled "Disgraced to Embraced." It's an excellent read, and I highly recommend starting your day with it.

More National Coverage:

Divine Intervention - SI.com (Mandel)
Gaines Turns Around Georgia - NY Daily News
Gaines Leads UGA - Newsday
Accounting for Every Hour - Washington Post
Weathering the Storm - Washington Times
UGA Riding Emotion of Rally - Cincy Enquirer

In other Bulldog Hoops News (Local Coverage):

Joy for Georgia - Chattanooga Free Press
Felton appreciative of Evans' Patience - AJC
TipOff Time is bad for Business - AJC
Xavier Banking on the Past - ABH
One and Done Not in the Plans - ABH
Unlikely Triumph - red and black
Do Dawgs Have Enough Left - ABH
Dawgs Draw from Chaos - ABH
Even Xavier Appreciates UGA's Run - Macon Telegraph
Players Glad Felton Still Around - Columbus Ledger
Tipoff Surprise from Felton - ABH
DC Dawgs Show Support - ABH

At 12:20, it's Game On. And as the NY Times asks..."Why Not?"

PWD

March 19, 2008

Georgia vs Xavier: Random Tidbits

Georgia faces off against Atlantic 10 foe Xavier in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Washington, D.C. at 12:20 pm EST on CBS. See TV Coverage Map for details.

Xavier is 27-6 overall and 14-2 in the Atlantic 10. Their biggest major conference wins on the season were against Indiana, Cincy, Kansas State, Virginia and Auburn. They also played and lost to Arizona State and Tennessee (by seven points). This is a battle tested team that has definitely played a big boy schedule. Here's the Tale of the Tape (Source: UGA SID):

UGA has nine all-time NCAA Tournament appearances

The program is 7-9 all-time in the tournament. It has experienced some outrageously huge wins, and some heart breaking defeats.

My Top 3 Biggest Wins:

My Top 3 Heart Breaking Losses:

One could also argue that UGA pulling itself out of the 2003 NCAA Tournament when the team had the #5 overall RPI and a 19-8 record was the most heart breaking loss of all. But that's a topic for another post.

2nd All-Time Meeting Between Xavier and UGA
Thursday’s game is the second all-time meeting between Georgia and Xavier in basketball. The Bulldogs won the only previous meeting 73-70 on Dec. 29, 1983 in Athens.

There is some degree of significance to that only prior meeting of these schools. Then-Georgia coach Hugh Durham arranged this contest out of respect for the family of one of Georgia’s all-time greats: Vern Fleming. The New York native, who starred at Georgia from 1980-84, had an identical twin brother, Victor Fleming, who played basketball at Xavier during the same span.Georgia won the contest, but Victor won the sibling warfare on that night. He outscored Vern 21-2.

Thanks to the UGA SID's office for many of the factoids.

PWD

Georgia vs. Xavier TV Coverage Map for 2008 NCAA Tournament First Round Games

The above TV coverage map shows the basic over the air broadcast coverage for the Georgia Bulldogs vs. Xavier WhateverTheirMascotIsBecauseIHonestlyHaven'tLookedItUpYet game (click to enlarge).

Roughly 25 percent of the country will see the game as part of their normal telecast. I'm not sure how PPV or Internet coverage works, but normally you can hit a bar in any market and see just about any game.

Most of the SEC states (excluding the Miami market) and the Ohio Valley will get our game. However, if you are a Washington DC area Dawg fan, you need to either get your butt to the Verizon Center or a bar because the game is blacked out in your area.

For a full TV coverage map of all games, check out CollegeHoopsNet.

Also -- According to the Verizon Center's web site, the winner of the UGA/Xavier game will play the winner of Purdue/Baylor in the second game on Saturday at the Washington DC regional site.

The first game starts at 2:10 pm, and our game (assuming we win) will begin 30 minutes after.

In other words, we should tipoff on Saturday (assuming no Acts of God or unlikely defeat of our juggernaut of awesomeness) at roughly 4:45-5:00 PM.

PWD

ht - ugasports.com's hoops board (aka - the happiest message board on the planet)

Dawgs Warm Up at the Verizon Center

Our friends at the DC Bulldog Club continue to provide updates on the Dawgs. Today, "Junkyarddawg34" tells us:

"There were 20-30 DC Area Dawg fans that showed up at the team hotel to greet them last night. Felton seemed surprised to see us there when he came in. The only disconcerting thing was that the Dawgs hotel is right next to FEMA's offices here in DC. After last weekend..."

See I disagree there. I think that's the perfect place for us to be located. If it takes a rain out, tornado, hurricane or friggin' locust to get us past Xavier, I'm all in for it. Hell, I expect it. Since there's no government agency that has more conspiracy theories surrounding it than FEMA, we might just get the help we need. I'm not saying. I'm just saying.

Junkyarddawg34 also tells us that today's shoot around went well, and the team looked loose. He took the photo above, and he has some video up on his site.

The beat writers are starting to log their stories as well:
-- Photos from the Verizon Center - DawgPost
-- Dawgs crash the Tournament - ABH
-- Upbeat Send Off - AJC
-- Video from the Tourney Warm ups - DawgPost
-- DC Area Dawg Fans Ready to Bark - AJC

See Also:
-- Premium Tickets for Georgia's NCAA Regional
-- Premium Seats for all NCAA Tournament Games

PWD

Dawgs Remain National Story of Interest

Some prime time coverage of the Georgia Basketball team from around the country:

Miracle Run for Georgia - USA Today (Tues)
Do you believe in Madness - MSNBC
Creative Guard for UGA - Cincy Enquirer
Georgia gives Felton another chance - Fox Sports
NCAA Pants Party - DeadSpin

It's interesting to note that both sides of the college football playoff debate are using UGA as a symbol to prove their point for why college football does or doesn't need a different type of post-season. The MSNBC article above is essentially just an opportunity for them to point out the need for a college football playoff.

Local Coverage for Wednesday:

300 fans send team off in style

Juniors heating up

The Stuff of Legends

More headlines later as the web sites get their articles online.

PWD

PWD

Odds of Developing a Perfect NCAA Basketball Bracket?

So how sure are you of your office pool picks? Are you convinced you have the perfect bracket? Every year, the question is asked, "What are the odds of selecting all the teams in the NCAA Tournament Pool correctly?"

Well, there are two ways to calculate that. The first is to assume that all teams are equal in quality, and develop a random bracket generator to get you the right answer. In that case, the odds of correctly selecting the perfect bracket is 1 in 9.2 quintillion. Or said differently "one in nine million trillion." (Yes. I wrote that right)

In terms of decimal points, it looks like this:
One in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808

The other way to do it. You could somehow weight each team based on the historical odds that a team of that seeding would advance. For instance:

The #16 seed has never beaten a #1 seed
The #2 seed has only lost four times to the #15 seed. And no #15 seed has ever won a second round game.
The #14 seed has beaten the #3 seed fifteen times, but the #14 seed has only advanced to the Sweet 16 twice. The Sweet 16 stat here is interesting because UGA is a 14 seed and because the UT-Chattanooga team that did it knocked UGA out of the tournament in Tubby's second year.

I have no idea how a weighted formula would work, but I've seen projections that this is still a probability in the hundreds of millions.

In case you are wondering, no major bracket selection web site (which process MILLIONS of brackets per year) has ever processed a perfect bracket. That includes Yahoo, ESPN and Sportsline. That's according to the WSJ (link in last sentence) and PBS.

PWD

March 18, 2008

Tate Center Theatre to Broadcast Tournament Game

Image: Georgiadogs.com

ATHENS, GA --- 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.

Basketball Team Send Off Planned for Tuesday at 4:00 pm

Image: georgiadogs.com

Bulldogs to depart Athens for the first round of the NCAA Tournament

ATHENS, Ga. --- 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.

Fourteenth-seeded Georgia (17-16) is scheduled to face third-seeded and 12th-ranked Xavier (26-5) at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., at 12:20 p.m. on Thursday, March 20.

UPDATE: I've been told that you need to be there at 4:00 is possible.

(source: UGA)

Georgia Tech to Rename Arena

Georgia Tech announced plans tonight to rename the McThriller Dome to the Dennis Felton Memorial Coliseum at Historic Gaines-Bliss Court.

The move comes in the glorious aftermath of the University of Georgia's SEC Tournament Championship won on Sunday at Tech's former home gym.

"It's time that we recognize who really owns our facilities," said Dan Radacovich, athletic director for Georgia Tech. "We're hopeful that we can reach a favorable lease agreement with Georgia on DFMC at HGBC."

The Georgia Bulldogs won three of their four games at Tech's facility over the weekend. As a point of comparison, Georgia Tech didn't enjoy a three game winning streak at home this entire season.

(image: Victory T-Shirts for the Cinderella Dawgs)

Officials at McDonald's, Inc. were heart broken with the news.

"We felt that McDonald's and Georgia Tech were nearing completion of a new marketing, cross promotion arrangement whereby our logo would return to GT's court and Buzz would be replaced by our famous Ronald McDonald clown," said Sandy Kroc, the hamburger heiress and chief marketing officer of McDonald's.

"It's an unfortunate turn of events for us as everyone knows UGA would never whore out their iconic imagery to make a quick buck like Tech would," said Kroc.

See Also:
-- Bulldogs Make the Cover of Papers Across the US - SicemDawgs
-- Felton Talks SEC and NCAAs - DawgPost (video)
-- Party like it's 1983 - DawgPost
-- The Road Less Traveled - AJC
-- Felton Eternally Grateful - ABH
-- Team send off planned for Tuesday - Georgiadogs.com
-- SEC Championship T-Shirts - Football Fanatics (Black)
-- The F-Bomb - DawgSports.com

(Note: the Felton Coliseum line came from S.A.W.B. in our comments section)

PWD

DC Area Bulldogs: Greet the Team

This info was sent in via Will regarding the DC Dawgs Alumni gathering plans for meeting the team, tickets and game watching. Please forward to your Mid-Atlantic Dawg Nation contacts:

Attention DC DAWGS!
1.) NCAA Team Arrival Information
2.) NCAA Ticket Purchase Information
3.) Game Watching Party
1.) The Hoop Dawgs are coming to DC on Thursday for the opening-round of the NCAA Tournament! The DC Dawgs want to welcome them to the city and show then a big UGA DC welcome! They are leaving from Atlanta Tuesday night at 6:30 PM. We are not sure which airport they are landing at yet, but we do know where they will be staying. They should get to the Capitol Holiday Inn (See Map Here) around 8:15 PM or so tomorrow night! It could take a bit longer, but better early then late. There should be parking in the area and if not, it is in walking distance of the Union Station Metro on the Red Line. Just look for some alums that will be getting there early!

So even if you can't make the game on Thursday, show up tomorrow evening at the Capitol Holiday Inn and wear your red and black, bring UGA Flags and show your UGA Pride!

2.) Also, tickets went on sale Monday at 8:30 AM via Georgiadogs.com. Let's try and fill up the Verizon Center with Dawg fans! Tip off is at 12:20 PM.

3.) 2008 NCAA Tournament Game Watch Reminder
#14 Georgia vs. #3 Xavier
Thursday, March 20, 2008
12:20PM At Penn Quarter Sports Tavern
639 Indiana Avenue NW Washingoton, DC 20004
www.dcsportstavern.com
Contact Matt Hunter at 202-279-1900
or at pqsportstavern@gmail.com

PWD

March 17, 2008

Meanwhile ... Don't Pitch to Gordon Beckham

All the buzz surrounding Georgia athletics right now is justifiably on the ridiculous run the basketball team went on this weekend. But, Gordon Beckham is just as hot. After the Dawgs series win over Arkansas, a series in which he hit .563 with eight RBIs and two homers, Beckham was named SEC Player of the Week. For the season, Beckham is hitting .507 with nine round trippers in 15 games. He's in the top six in every major offensive catagory in the league. Dude can mash.

The Diamond Dawgs are 8-7, but they've played arguably the most difficult schedule in the country. The weakness so far has been the bullpen, which has blown a number of close leads in the late innings. Josh Fields, however, has returned to form, giving up one hit over 6 and 2/3rds. One freakin' hit.

If the bullpen can stabilize, the Dawgs should have a good case for the post season. The starters have been solid. Beckham, Rich Poythress, and Ryan Peisel are providing enough offense to win games. We just need to hold leads. The Vols visit Foley Field this weekend.

ALSO: The girls got their bid for the NCAAs today and got a tough draw. They're an eight seed, facing Iowa on Sunday. If they get by Iowa, they face North Carolina, one of the best teams in the country. That's what happens when you seem to lack any desire or urgency in your season play. Assuming the team doesn't get past Carolina, this has been a hugely disappointing season for the Lady Dawgs. If Andy has any tricks left, he better play them.

Quinton

How rare is an SEC Tournament Championship?

By now everyone knows that this is the first SEC Tournament title for UGA in 25 years, and it's only our second SEC Tournament championship ever. Here's another fun fact....

Dennis Felton is only the third active SEC Coach with a Tournament Title.

Billy Donovan (3) - 2007, 2006 and 2005
Rick Stansbury (1) - 2002
Dennis Felton (1) - 2008

Tubby Smith and Rick Pitino each left the Wildcats with five titles, and Wimp Sanderson had about five at Alabama. Otherwise, it doesn't look like any SEC Coach had more than two until you go back to Adolph Rupp. (Note: The SEC Tourney wasn't played from 1953-1978).

(Note: I'm not sure of the source on the image above, but I think it's UGASports.com)

See Also:
-- SEC Tournament Champions List - Wikipedia
-- Fans greet team at Stegeman late last night - NativeDawg

Related Merchandise:
-- Official SEC Tournament Championship Hat - White

PWD

Quick Note on Official UGA Tickets

They go on sale at 8:30 am Monday on Georgiadogs.com. More on the 2008 Bracket later. My brain is fried from trying to understand the unknowable.

PWD

March 16, 2008

Beyond Imagination

After the dismissals of Takais Brown and Mike Mercer, I felt like this probably wasn't an NCAA Tourney team. However, I did feel like the team needed to show progress in order to maintain any sort of momentum. The NIT seemed like a manageable goal, and not making any sort of post-season this far into a coach's tenure is pretty unthinkable.

To have a season come so completely unglued during January and February was very tough to watch. The hardest thing about watching the problems were that they were the same old problems over and over.

To Felton's enormous credit, he never lost the team. With the exception of the Florida game, they gave solid effort consistently. They had no idea how to finish a game or score points consistently, but the effort was pretty consistent.

What Felton managed to do over the past four days can't be understated. The single biggest thing that he "fixed" at the SEC Tournament was Finishing the Drill. If you're going to "repair" anything at the 11th hour, that's a good thing to focus on.

We didn't blow our opportunities for success when faced with adversity. Some of that is young players like Woodbury, Jackson and Swansey growing up. Some of it is enormously lucky breaks (like not playing UK in front of 20,000 Cat fans at the Dome), and some of it was just a massive case of "The Want Its" by Gaines, Bliss and others.

Whatever the reason, the 2008 Georgia Bulldogs are SEC Tournament Champions after completing their stunning victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks, and the goal of sport is to win championships. The goal isn't to have a pretty offense, wear the right colors or be warm and fuzzy. The goal is to win titles.

Now...that said....if you're not winning titles, you can make your life a hell of a lot easier by doing those other things a little more. But that's neither here nor there.

I thought earlier in the season that the team had the potential to win seven or eight SEC games. Well...they did. They just went about it in the most difficult way imaginable.

This is by far the most significant title that the Dawgs have won since 1990. The Sweet 16 isn't a championship, and an SEC East Co-Divisional Title doesn't hold a candle to a tourney title.

Official T-Shirt Logo (Click to Buy)

Damon Evans has already said that Dennis Felton will be back next year. The amount of the pay raise and the length of the extension will logically be driven based on how far the team goes from here. If I were guessing right now, I'd say Felton probably bought himself a $100k-140k a year pay raise and a two year contract extension.

Two additional years would bring his total to five years remaining on his deal, and it would essentially guarantee him two more years with much less pressure from the administration. It's an extension and pay raise well deserved.

There are absolutely things that need to be addressed in the off season in terms of talent gaps and offensive scheme issues. However, even an offense that is badly flawed can still look pretty solid with better players, and nothing helps bring in talent like titles.

Great opportunities are right in front of Felton. He just has to find a way to continue taking advantage of them as he did over the past four days.

See Also:
-- Bulldogs Hold Off Razorbacks - AP
-- Photos from the Game - AJC
-- Photos from the game - AP
-- Winning their way In - AJC
-- Finally Secure - AJC
-- Believe It! - ABH
-- Day Not Soon Forgotten - ABH

Merchandise and Premium Tickets:
-- SEC Tournament Championship T-Shirts - Red
-- Premium NCAA Tickets in Washington DC for UGA's Games - Stuhub

PWD

About the New Header Graphic

Prior to the SEC Tournament, things were pointing to a quick exit. Georgia had lost 11 of its final 13 regular season games, and the coach was in deep trouble. That's why I said one week ago, "If the Dawgs were to advance to Saturday [in the SEC Tourney], then monkeys would fly out of my ass."

Well, I now have a house full of monkeys.

Rather than get myself in trouble with PETA or the Evil Witch of the West, I decided to put the monkeys to work. They have spent the past 24 hours learning English, Typing Skills, Photoshop and HTML. The result is this new header graphic in salute of Coach Felton and the 2008 SEC Tournament Champion Georgia Bulldogs.

The graphic was their idea. I just came in from the game, and it was already up.

See Also:
-- SEC Tournament Championship T-Shirts - Red
-- Premium NCAA Tickets in Washington DC for UGA's Games - Stuhub

PWD

Basketball Team's Triumphant Return

From our friends...

The team will leave Atlanta around 10 pm or so and arrive at Stegeman some time between 11 and 11:30 pm.

(Update: It will be closer to 11:30 pm)

I know its late and Monday morning will come soon, but what the guys did in the tourney deserves a good fan turnout so even if you come in your pj's that is ok too!

I just wish we had a way to get this info to the students that are back in town now.

PWD

The image going through my head late in the game

Was that of Clark Griswold standing pool side arms flapping saying, "This is Crazy. This is Crazy. This is crazy."

What a weekend. I'm floored.

PWD

Saturday Hoops Headlines

First video is ESPN. Second video is DawgPost.com.

Go Dawgs:

Dawgs Advance

Defying all logic

Finals are a tough ticket

Believe It! Dawgs Storm title Game

Day Not Soon Forgotten

Swansey Sinks Cats

Setup had Felton Fuming

SEC Shocker

Photos

Improbable Run Continues

Historic Win Boosts Felton

PWD

Queue the Hoosiers Theme Song

"David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone,
slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead;
the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground."
1 Samuel 17:49

Gene Hackman doesn't know real drama. This is real drama.

What has happened in Atlanta the past few days is so far beyond ridiculous that it's bordering on complete insanity. Since the SEC expanded to 12 teams, only one #6 seed has advanced to semi-final round of the tourney, and that has only happened once. The idea of a #6 seed advancing to the finals is too silly for words.

UGA is essentially the #12 seed in this tournament. I can't prove it, but I would strongly wager that no #12 seed has ever advanced this far in any major conference tournament. Ever. What could happen tomorrow is beyond imagination or even cinema.

With that in mind, I present you with three clips from Hoosiers.

Damn paint fumes.

See Also
-- Dawgs out of their Minds - Sportsline
-- Only March Madness Makes Sense - Sportsline
-- Dawgs Survive Twin Bill - AP / ESPN

PWD

March 15, 2008

My Advice for Tomorrow

Just show up. I mean what the hell. Just go down there and walk in. What the hell do you have to lose? If they turn you away, there are umpteen jillion sports bars in the area. Get there an hour early and just go the hell on in.

PWD

FLY MY PRETTIES FLY

THERE ARE SOME REALLY STINKY MONKEYS FLYING DIRECTLY OUT OF MY ASS RIGHT NOW. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUSLY FUN.

PWD

Redbulls For Everyone!

Zac Swansey: Sharpshooter! Never a doubt on that turnaround, fall away three point shot.

Dawgs tip again tonight after the Tennessee-Arkansas game.

Quinton

Dennis Felton is the single most cursed coach alive

Image: DawgPost.com

He's dealt with academic suspensions. He's dealt with injuries. He's dealt with pocket knife suspensions. He's dealt with jay walking suspensions. He's dealt with bad bounces, tough breaks, bad calls, you name it and Dennis Felton has faced it this season.

Tonight, Dennis Felton took his bad luck to a whole new level. A tornado (or hailnado if you prefer) appears to have struck the Georgia Dome and surrounding areas causing the Georgia vs. Kentucky game to be postponed until Saturday at 12:00 pm (according to WSB TV as of 2:00 am this morning).

Felton reacts to postponing the game (DawgPost.com)...

Now, Felton's yoke of troubles expands. If he were to pull off the massive upset of the Wildcats, he would likely have to play two games in one day on Saturday. And if that's not enough, he has to face the Wildcats in Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Insert dark gallows humor about his inability to win on the road here.

As of right now, there's no word on how the SEC will handle seating at Tech. They can either use a first come first serve method for seating, or they can play the game in an empty gym for TV only. The problem with the first come first serve angle...there are over 17,000 fans in town that have tickets for this game. The McThriller Dome only holds 9,100.

In fairness to Felton, the Kentucky fans weren't blaming the weather related problems on Dennis. That obviously fell at the feet of Tubby and/or Saul Smith. I'm not sure how, but you just have to nod along with them when they start bitching about Tubby.

PWD

March 14, 2008

In Case You Missed It: Bliss!

It was an exciting game last night, but dear Lord did we try to blow it. I don't recall ever seeing a three point shooter fouled both at the end of regulation and at the end of overtime by the team that went on to win the game. Those two Ole Miss guys were clutch too, nailing all six free throws. Three of them sent it to OT and the other three almost sent it to double OT.

The best thing about the game was the ending of course, but we shot the ball consistently well all night. Giving up the big run has been a weakness all year and the Rebs went on a big one in the second half. But, unlike many times this year, the Dawgs stayed calm and tried to hit a few shots while the Rebels charged.

Everything leading up to the last shot was like an infant swimming: awkward and potentially deadly. That last shot made up for it. For those of you who value a good night's sleep over supporting Dennis Felton, here are the highlights from ESPN.

Quinton

Great win for hoop dawgs last night

I'm wiped out this morning. It took forever for me to get home from the Dome last night. Very little posting today due to real job and late start.

See Dawgbone.net for game recaps.

If you can make the game tonight, do. Because it is winnable. God Bless David Bliss and Corey Butler because that ending was ridiculously fun.

Dean Legge of DawgPost interviews big Dave after his game winner.

PWD

March 13, 2008

Longest Tenured Coaches without a BCS Bid (2008 Edition)

Have you ever wondered....Who are the longest currently tenured coaches at a BCS Conference school that haven't guided their current program to a BCS bowl game? Well, I'm glad you asked. Last year, we published this list, and I wanted to take a moment to update it for 2008.

Here's the 2008 Top 10:

Off the list this year:

Just off the list:

Jim Leavitt (USF since '96) and Randy Edsall (UConn since '99) are in purgatory for the purposes of the list. Both are entrenched at their schools, but neither has been in a BCS conference for very long. Edsall will probably make the list next year...if he's still at UConn.
Guy Morris (Baylor '03) and Karl Dorrell (UCLA '03) both missed by virtue of getting canned.
With a couple of terminations or break out season at the top of the list, you might find Steve Spurrier breaking the Top 10 of this prestigious gathering of coaching futility. Dave Wannstedt (2005), Greg Robinson (2005) and Ty Willingham (2005) are also aggressively stalking the list.

The Camel Club:

Phil Fulmer continues to rule this category with an iron fist. The Camel Club recognizes coaches who've "gone without" the longest. The Vols haven't been to a BCS game since their trip to the Fiesta Bowl following the 1999 season. No other active coach has tasted the thrill of BCS success followed by a longer dry spell than Fulmer.
Joe Tiller (Purdue) comes closest to Fulmer with his Rose Bowl appearance following the 2000 season.

How Long to Wait?
Every school's situation is different, but how long should a program give a coach before making a BCS game? Over the past 10 seasons, 36 different BCS schools have made BCS appearances. There are only 65 schools in BCS conferences.

ACC Teams*	Big 12 Teams	Big 10 Teams
Florida State Maryland Virginia Tech Wake Forest	Texas Texas A&M Oklahoma Nebraska Kansas State Kansas Colorado	Michigan Ohio State Wisconsin Iowa Illinois Purdue Penn State
Big East Teams*	Pac 10 Teams	SEC Teams
Miami Pitt Syracuse West Virginia Louisville	USC UCLA Washington Washington St. Oregon Oregon St. Stanford	Florida Tennessee Georgia Alabama Auburn LSU
Others: Notre Dame Utah Boise State Hawaii

*Note: Obviously, teams like Miami and VT moved from conference to conference. I could have listed them in both slots, but that's not really the point.

Any teams or coaches on that list surprise you? Did I overlook anyone?

PWD

March 12, 2008

AJC comes out in support of Felton

The Atlanta Journal's Jeff Schultz has joined a recent media mini-parade in asking Damon Evans to give Dennis Felton another year as Georgia's basketball coach. Schultz joins Mark Bradley (AJC), John Kaltefleiter (ABH), Mark Schlabach (ESPN), and Gary Parrish (Sportsline) in supporting Felton getting one more shot at this thing.

In a separate article, alpha recruit Howard Thompkins III discusses his future with the AJC saying:

Players that plan on playing for Georgia next year are paying close attention, too. Howard Thompkins III, one of the top 10 power forwards in the nation according to scout.com and rivals.com, signed with the Bulldogs during the early period back in November along with two other prospects. He said nobody from Georgia has talked to him about Felton's status but he's certainly heard a lot about it from other people.

"If they make a change I plan on staying but I'd have to evaluate who the new coach is going to be and find out what his coaching style is," said Thompkins, who averaged 28 points and 10 rebounds for Class AA state champion Wesleyan this season. "But Coach Felton is the main reason I committed to Georgia. That and the teammates I'm going to have and the ones I'm going to bring with me. They aren't going anywhere as far as I can tell."

That's about as positive of a comment as you can get in this situation. The worst thing that could happen would be to make a change and then lose your best recruits. His comments match other info that I've heard on the topic.

See Also:
-- What will Damon do? - DawgSports.com
-- Uncertainty Surrounds Georgia - AJC.com

PWD

(Note: Yes. I completely changed the tone of the article about 10 minutes after posting. It was just too all over the place, and it didn't really make a point. Sorry for the confusion)

Get your G-Day Tickets in Advance

Image: georgiadogs.com

I'm personally expecting a big G-Day crowd for a couple of reasons:

Caleb King Curiosity

In past years, it has been a real hassle getting ticketed and into the stadium in a timely fashion. I'm expecting this year's G-Day to be a complete zoo in that regard. Luckily, the Athletic Department is making it easy to buy your tickets in advance online.

ATHENS, Ga. --- General Admission Tickets for the 2008 G-Day football game are on sale online via georgiadogs.com . This year’s spring football game is scheduled for Saturday, April 5th at Sanford Stadium. All online orders will be mailed out the week of March 24.

G-Day tickets are $5 (adults) and $3 (youth) when purchasing in advance of game day. UGA Students who are admitted for free when showing their valid UGA ID card at the gates on the day of the game.

In expectation of a large G-Day crowd, the Athletic Association encourages Georgia fans to purchase their spring game tickets in advance via www.georgiadogs.com. Purchasing your tickets in advance will provide quicker access into Sanford Stadium on the day of the game without waiting in line to purchase tickets at the gates.

The Bulldogs are coming off an impressive 41-10 win over the previously unbeaten Hawaii Warriors in the Allstate Sugar Bowl and finished the 2007 season 11-2 overall and ranked #2 in the AP and #3 in the Coaches polls, respectively.

PWD

Basketball Awards for Gaines, Bliss and Price

Sundiata Gaines, Dave Bliss and Jeremy Price picked up a series of awards from the SEC Coaches. Gaines was named 2nd Team All-SEC and 1st Team All-Defense in the SEC. Dave Bliss was named SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year, and Jeremy Price was named first team All-Freshman in the league.

Congrats to all three Dawgs. For the full list of awards, you can check the SECSports.com site.

Unrelated: The Athens Banner Herald calls for Felton to get another year. I don't get the logic, but it would be unfair not to point out the article. Decide for yourself.

PWD

March 11, 2008

NCAA Tournament Bubble Talk: SEC

Image: Red and Black
This week's SEC Men's basketball tournament provides some intriguing story lines. There will be coaches fighting for their jobs, fighting to make it on the bubble and to stay in the tourney picture. Plus, some quality match-ups across the bracket.

Let's look at the teams jockeying for NCAA position.

Team	Overall*	SEC Record	RPI**	Projected Seed***
Tennessee	27-3	14-2	1	1
Vanderbilt	25-6	10-6	10	6
Mississippi State	21-9	12-4	39	7
Kentucky	18-11	12-4	48	9
Arkansas	20-10	9-7	42	10

Bubble Teams
Florida	21-10	8-8	65	NIT
Ole Miss	21-9	7-9	43	NIT

*Overall Record - Includes only RPI recognized wins. Games against Div II teams don't count for RPI ratings.
**RPI Data from Ken Pomeroy.
***Seeding courtesy of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology.

Moving On Up?:

Tennessee (E1)- With the #1 RPI and #3 strength of schedule, the Vols are looking very much like a #1 overall seed. If they make it to Sunday, I think they lock it up. They toughest match-up of the tourney for them could be Vandy on Saturday.
Vanderbilt (E3) - The Dores have a reasonable shot to make a ton of noise at the Georgia Dome. They will likely face a progressive run of Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee. I like Vanderbilt's chances for winning the tourney. If they win the tournament from the Thursday position, I think a #3 seed is within reach.
Mississippi State (W1) - The Bizarro Dawgs played a reasonably tough non-conference schedule, but they faired poorly against it. The losses to South Alabama and Miami-Ohio are particularly tough on the RPI. They will likely face the Gators on Friday after their first round bye. If they win that game, they get a banged up Kentucky squad on Saturday. I don't see them landing much higher than a 6 seed without winning the tourney.
Kentucky (E2) - For the record, I hate Kentucky Basketball. I hate their attitude, their fans and everything about them. Anyone that has ever been to the full SEC tournament knows that it's really the Wildcat Invitational. If they could lose on Wednesday before the tourney starts, that would be fine by me. ESPN's Bracketology site has the Cats generously listed as a 9 seed. The UK vs. UF/MSU winner on Saturday could be one of the better games of the tourney. I think an 8 seed is about as high as the Cats can climb.
Arkansas (W2) - Joe Lunardi lists the Razorbacks as a 10 seed. I think that's a very generous projection. If the Hawgs fall to Vandy on Friday, I think they are back on the NCAA bubble sweating things until the last moments of the selection show. Beat the Dores, and that 10 seed looks more realistic. The two competing forces tugging on my thought process here are: (1) I'm not impressed with Pelphrey in the least (2) This senior laden Hawg squad made the SEC Finals last year.
Florida (E4) - Bracketology projects the Gators as one of the first four teams left out of the Big Dance right now. I personally can't see how they are even that close. In my opinion, Donovan's crew needs to advance to Saturday via wins over Bama and MSU just to have a realistic shot at March Madness. Roll Tide.
Ole Miss (W3) - unfortunately for the Rebels, Georgia's RPI is so low that a win over the Dawgs in Round 1 will not help Andy Kennedy's squad at all on Selection Sunday. They need a win over the Wildcats in Round 2 in the worst way. If Kennedy were to advance to Sunday in this tournament, my interest in learning more about his resume would grow exponentially. I hope we beat them...but I'm just saying.
Alabama (W5) - The Crimson Tide (16-15 overall, RPI: 54) is currently on the outside looking in for the NIT according to NIT-ology.com. Gottfried could use a first round win over the Gators to quiet some critics and lock down something more interesting than the CBI Tournament (aka "the Square Dance").

If you're wondering what scenario saves Dennis Felton's job. I have no idea, but this is the best bracket that he could've hoped for. If he gets to Saturday (at which point I'll faint), it'll be hard to boot him.

See Also:
-- Bracketology 101
-- The Bracket Matrix
-- Buy or Sell SEC Tournament Tickets

PWD

DawgPost Roundtable

From DawgPost.com

Unrelated:
-- CSTV's Toughest Schedules for 2008
-- Caleb King readies for debut - AJC
-- Toughest Schedule Discussion - David Ching

PWD

March 10, 2008

I hear you brother

This dude really hates Tennessee. (ht - EDSBS and SEC Football Bloggers)

Hey...speaking of football. Blutarsky has a good article up about non-conference scheduling.

PWD

March 9, 2008

SEC Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket

Image: SECSports.com

Sunday's games matter for NCAA seeding and bragging rights, but the SEC tourney bracket is already set. Here's how things look...

SEC East

SEC West

The schedule puts Georgia (E6) vs. Ole Miss (W3) on Thursday at 9:45 pm EST. If Georgia should win on Thursday, the team would face Kentucky at 9:45 on Friday. If the Dawgs were to advance to Saturday, then monkeys would fly out of my ass...and they would face either MSU, Bama or Florida.

See Also:
-- SEC Basketball Tournament Tickets
-- NCAA Basketball Tournament Tickets

PWD

Felton Fiddles while Athens Burns

Image: UGASports.com

Georgia lost to Ole Miss 76-62 in Athens. Entering Saturday's game, the Rebels were 3-36 on the road in SEC play over the past five seasons, and their last SEC road win took place on Feb. 3, 2007 at Auburn. The Rebels had posted only one SEC road win against a team other than Auburn during those five years.

Georgia led 48-41 when suddenly the wheels fell completely off the wagon. Per the AJC:

On Senior Day, the Bulldogs blew a seven-point, second-half lead by letting Ole Miss put together a 26-6 run from the 13:09 mark until only 3:46 remained. By then Georgia trailed 67-54 on the way to a 76-63 victory for the Rebels.

All the while Felton never bothered to call a timeout — there were two stoppages for media breaks — and he made limited personal changes. In that exact time span, freshman forward Jeremy Price committed five fouls, had two turnovers, scored two points and missed a free throw while the Rebels' post players scored 19 of the 26 points.

"If you'd paid any attention since I've been coaching here, I'm not one prone to calling a lot of timeouts," Felton said. "I coach by feel, and I just didn't feel it. It wasn't a momentous thing even though it sounds like it, 26 to 6. It kind of evolved over a long span of time, and it just didn't feel like a timeout was necessary. But I'm not one to jump up and call timeouts."

Well there you go. I've said that Felton's biggest problems are his wretched luck, stubbornness/lack of self-awareness, lack of offense, and inadequate recruiting. That sequence pretty much hits on all of them.

During the run, a student behind me commented..."Does he think that he can carry the timeouts with him to the SEC Tourney?"

Georgia closes the season in 11th place overall in the SEC by virtue of the tie breaker with Auburn. They finish 6th in the SEC East.

See Also:

Felton's Swan Song

Felton defends his performance

Felton bristles in loss

Collapse Gives Dawgs Last Place Finish

Felton pleads for patience

Season Ticket Holders Split on Felton

PWD

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