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

1983 - #4 seed - Final Four
1985 - #6 seed - 2nd Round
1987 - #8 seed - 1st Round
1990 - #7 seed - 1st Round
1991 - #11 seed - 1st Round
1996 - #8 seed - Sweet 16
1997 - #3 seed - 1st Round
2001 - #8 seed - 1st Round
2002 - #3 seed - 2nd Round

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:

1. Beating Michael Jordan's UNC Tarheels in 1983 to advance to the Final Four.

2. Beating Chris Mullins' #1 seed St. John's squad in 1983 to advance to the Sweet 16.

3. Whipping #1 seed Purdue in the 1996 tournament to advance to the Sweet 16.

My Top 3 Heart Breaking Losses:

1. Syracuse's John Wallace hits a miracle three pointer in overtime to beat Georgia by two points in 1996. Brutal way to lose a game.

2. The 1997 squad had exceeded everyone's expectations, and a team of puppies secured a #3 seed in Charlotte only to see UT-Chattanooga burn the Dawgs. Georgia lost by three points.

3. Tie: Losing to Southern Illinois (2002), Pitt (1991), KSU (1987) and Missouri (2001) all in either overtime or by less than three points. I would've listed the loss to NC State in the Final Four, but making the Final Four would be so glorious that I can't imagine feeling heart break in losing to another Cinderella by 7.

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

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