NCAA Basketball: 2019 Big 12/SEC Challenge preview

Texas Longhorns at Georgia Bulldogs

With another crop of Top 100 ranked recruits on the way, head coach Shaka Smart and the Texas Longhorns will serve as tough road opponents for the new head coach Tom Crean and the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs return everyone but Juwan Parker and Yante Maten. Maten was the team’s leading scorer (19.3 points per game) and leading rebounder (8.6 rebounds per game). Parker averaged 8.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game through 33 appearances in 2017-18. Returning starters William Jackson II and Derek Ogbeide will bring a different dynamic under Tom Crean’s tutelage.

The Longhorns won’t have Mo Bamba protecting the paint in 2017-18, but they have two more big men on the way via recruiting that should replace what he brought to the table. Point guard Matt Coleman and Kerwin Roach Jr. are back in the fold as is Dylan Osetkowski, three key contributors in 2017-18.

With experience returning on both sides, this could be a game with March implications written all over it. The good news for the Bulldogs: They’ve won four of the last five meetings including the last one on Jan. 28, 2017.