Show Me My Opponent, 2022-23: Georgia
exclusively a basketball program with no notable accomplishments on the gridiron in the last two calendar years
Sometimes things don’t go the way you imagined:
And sometimes they really do not go the way you imagined.
In between, Mike White spent seven years at Florida, where perhaps his biggest crime was not being Billy Donovan after making an Elite Eight in Year Two. It also did not help that the team got steadily worse year over year, falling from 5th in 2016-17 to 59th last year. Before he could get fired, he reset the clock at an objectively worse job in Georgia, a program with three NCAA Tournament bids and zero wins over the last two decades.
And yet! Georgia’s a bit better than I personally anticipated in that they’re 3-3 in SEC play, are very good at attacking the boards and getting fouled, and are on track to finish 9th or 10th in the league, which is not bad. For the first time since…uh…um…2015, I think, you can say Georgia is overachieving with the roster they’ve got. Only one spot behind UC Santa Barbara on KenPom! Feel the excitement!
BELOW THE LINE: yes this is Tennessee’s second-easiest game remaining but also consider that it’s like going from playing, you know, Georgia to bringing in Alcorn State for a second helping ($)