The NCAA tournament selections go out three weeks from Sunday, and for now Georgia is positioned as a likely at-large team.
The Bulldogs’ résumé so far has few wins against top-50 RPI teams, but is devoid of a single "bad loss."
That type of profile could be good enough to get Georgia into the tournament.
"Every year there were probably three or four teams that were in that kind of situation," said Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage, who chaired the NCAA tournament selection committee for the 2005-06 season and served on the committee for five years until 2007. "The difficulty is there are teams in that situation and there are teams that might be in the non-BCS conferences who have great records and decent RPIs because they don’t play night in and night out, as a school would in the SEC, top-50 sort of opponents.
"They don’t have the signature wins as well. Then it becomes a matter of how do you compare apples and oranges because they’re two very different types of profiles? That’s where, in the evaluation process, more of the art comes into play."
Georgia (17-7, 6-4 SEC) will have chances in its next three games to add some more quality wins.
The Bulldogs face 18th-ranked Vanderbilt (18-6, 6-4) tonight in Stegeman Coliseum. The Commodores are No. 15 in the latest RPI rankings. Georgia then plays Saturday at Tennessee (No. 25 RPI) and Feb. 24 at Florida (No. 12 RPI).
The Bulldogs, currently No. 41 in the RPI, lost in their first go-round against Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Florida. Georgia coach Mark Fox spoke to his team before the season about shooting for the tournament – expanded this year from 65 to 68 teams.
"The first time I talked to them about a résumé game, which was probably in August, I’m not sure they knew what that was," Fox said. "They haven’t been in this position before. That’s not their fault, but it is the first time, so being able to manage that is certainly a challenge."
The Bulldogs reached the NCAA tournament in 2008 with an unexpected run to the SEC tournament title, but the last time they got in the field without the automatic bid was in 2002.
Georgia’s two wins over top-50 teams are against Kentucky (No. 14) and UAB (No. 34). All seven of its losses are to top-35 teams.
"There’s a lot of games that can be on your résumé," Fox said. "When you play a team that you’re supposed to beat, that’s a résumé game. It only gets on there in one way – if you lose the game. Those games are important. … We try to make sure that we get some quality wins and avoid the nasty loss. Hopefully we can continue to avoid the ugly L."
Home games ahead against South Carolina and LSU would fall into that category.
Georgia players say they are focused on more than getting to the tournament.
Tonight’s game has big implications in the SEC East.
"The winner has sole possession of second," forward Trey Thompkins said. "That’s basically what it is, and we want it."
ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi and CBSSports.com’s Jerry Palm project Georgia as a No. 10 NCAA tournament seed, but Fox doesn’t want his players to focus on that.
He wants them to "stay grounded and listen to the inside voices and not everybody on the outside.
"There’s a lot of people with all the answers and no solutions. We have to stay on the same page and we have to continue to try to be the team we’re capable of and take it one day at a time. Simple as that. We can’t be caught up in all the wildness that comes with it. And it’s a great part of the college game, but we’ve got to be able to deal."
Committee members will evaluate at-large teams’ bodies of work.
Littlepage said they weigh the quantitative measurements – RPI, won-loss record, strength of schedule, road wins, as well as qualitative input from coaches, conference commissioners and others in the basketball community.
"Everything and anything might weigh in," Littlepage said.
Fox stresses to the team about the importance of showing up each game to play and overcoming fatigue to pull out wins.
"We’re trying to position ourselves to make our résumé look as good as we can," Fox said. "I addressed that early with our team because I felt like it was something we were going to have to deal with this time of year."
No. 18 Vanderbilt at Georgia
► WHEN: 7 p.m. today.
► WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum
► TV/RADIO: ESPNU/960-AM.
► RECORDS: Vanderbilt is 18-6, 6-4 SEC; Georgia is 17-7, 6-4 SEC.
► PROBABLE STARTERS: Vanderbilt – F Lance Goulbourne (Jr., 6-8, 225, 7.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg); F Jeffrey Taylor (Jr., 6-7, 225, 14.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg); C Festus Ezeli (Jr., 6-11, 255, 12.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg); G Brad Tinsley (Jr., 6-3, 210, 10.7 ppg, 4.5 apg; G John Jenkins (S0., 6-4, 215, 19.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg). Georgia – F Travis Leslie (Jr., 6-4, 205, 14.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg); F Trey Thompkins (Jr., 6-10, 240, 16.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg); C Jeremy Price (Sr., 6-8, 264, 9.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg); G Dustin Ware (Jr., 5-11, 182, 8.0 ppg, 3.8 apg); G Gerald Robinson (Jr., 6-1, 180, 12.9 ppg, 3.9 apg).
► SERIES: Vanderbilt leads 83-48. The series began in 1914 and has been played every year since 1951. The schools have split the series in nine of the past 10 years. Georgia leads 33-26 in Athens.
► LAST MEETING: The Commodores knocked off then-No. 24 Georgia 73-66 on Jan. 12 in Nashville. The Bulldogs bussed to the game because of a winter storm in Georgia. Ezeli and Jenkins had 18 for Vanderbilt. Leslie had 21 and 13 rebounds for Georgia.
► SEASON AT A GLANCE: Vanderbilt returns to the road with a three-game winning streak put together at home. The Commodores are coming off consecutive 81-77 wins over Kentucky and Alabama and a 78-60 win against South Carolina. The Commodores made 20 of 39 3-pointers in their last two games. Georgia won its third straight SEC game (it lost a midweek nonconference game last week against Xavier) after holding on for a 60-56 win at South Carolina on Saturday. The Bulldogs held the Gamecocks to nine first-half points and led by 23 with 11 minutes to play.
► NOTEWORTHY: Georgia is 10-3 at home, but has lost three of its last five in Stegeman Coliseum. The Commodores are 2-4 away from Nashville. Jenkins, who leads the SEC in scoring, was named the conference’s Player of the Week after averaging 26 points last week in wins over Alabama and Kentucky. "He’s having a phenomenal year," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "He’s shooting the ball better than all the guys at the next level. …He’s a hard guard no matter what you do." Jenkins scored a career-high 32 against the Wildcats. "Jenkins had about four looks where we broke down, but the rest of them he earned and he deserved to make," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. …Vanderbilt leads the SEC in scoring (78.2 points per game), field-goal percentage (46.3), free throw percentage (75.2) and 3-pointers per game (8.1). Georgia is third in field-goal percentage defense (40.0) and second in rebound margin (5.6).
