Tennessee is gearing up for an SEC showdown this weekend when it hosts Georgia, with the Bulldogs hoping to add a signature victory to their resume.
TV schedule: Saturday, January 5, 3:30 pm ET. SEC Network.
Arena: Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
Two SEC rivals will do battle this Saturday afternoon when league play gets underway for Tennessee and Georgia.
Tennessee (11-1), ranked No. 3 in the most recent AP top-25 poll, will welcome Georgia (8-4) to the Thompson-Boling Arena as each program seeks to start out 1-0 in conference competition.
So far in the 2018-19 term, the Volunteers are looking every bit of a serious contender to capture the SEC regular-season title and make a run to the Final Four.
In the non-conference slate, Tennessee has performed quite well. The Volunteers defeated then-No. 1 Gonzaga at home. Tennessee also triumphed over Louisville on a neutral court, scored wins in Knoxville versus Atlantic Coast Conference members Georgia Tech and Wake Forest, and bested in-state foe Memphis on the road.
The Volunteers’ only setback at this juncture is an overtime loss to then-No. 2 Kansas at a neutral site.
Georgia, meanwhile, is in its first year with Tom Crean at the helm. Crean previously served as the head coach at Marquette, where he guided the Golden Eagles to the 2003 Final Four, and Indiana, where he got the Hoosiers to the Sweet 16 on three occasions.
During the out-of-conference schedule, Georgia really didn’t pick up any stellar conquests, and the Bulldogs fell to Temple, Clemson, Georgia State and Arizona State.
If Georgia wants to enter the conversation for a possible Big Dance invite, the Bulldogs have to collect a bunch of high-quality successes against formidable SEC opponents.
Those types of opportunities certainly begin this coming Saturday, but Georgia is a massive underdog in its encounter with Tennessee. ESPN.com’s match-up predictor pegs the Volunteers as a 92.2 percent favorite to beat the Bulldogs.
The NCAA’s NET ratings currently have Tennessee at No. 7, with Georgia much further down, at No. 79.
The Volunteers own advantages in a bevy of statistical departments, save for rebounding. Both Tennessee and Georgia can shoot at a relatively strong clip from the field, but a big red flag for the Bulldogs is sloppiness in taking care of the ball. Georgia averages about 17 turnovers per game, and it won’t prevail if it provides the Volunteers with a lot of easy buckets out in transition.
Tennessee is on a roll, having won seven-consecutive affairs, while the Bulldogs have claimed three victories in a row. So something has to give. I think that Georgia can hang around with the Volunteers for a while, but I simply don’t foresee Tennessee dropping this one before a wave of orange-clad fans at home.
Prediction: Tennessee 86 – Georgia 76