The Fake "Dawgs" Must Go Down Tonight

As you may or may not know, the University of Washington likes to refer to their mascot, the Huskies, as "Dawgs."  Firstly, the word "dog" is no where in their mascot name.  As many have said, they aren't the "Huskiedogs."  Washington fans like to claim that the "w" in "Dawgs" stands for Washington.  Then I ask them what the "a" stands for.

Second, their live mascot (named Dubs) isn't even a real husky.  It's a malamute.

What are these people trying to pull here?  Their mascot is a farce.

Of course, no one outside of Washington really calls them the Dawgs (while it's universally known that the true Dawgs are UGA), and it's likely that not many know of the malamute named Dubs, while Uga is the most popular mascot in the country.  And clearly "Dawgs" is a word modeled after the Southern pronunciation of "Dogs," as in part of the word "Bulldogs."

In a match between the real Dawgs and the Huskies MalamuteDawgs, there can only be one true Dawg.  Let's do this UGA.

Haters Gonna' Hate: UGA a 10 seed in NCAAT

I will admit, I don't know too much about the NCAA tournament selection process.  But I did find it strange how the "experts" and media types were going back and forth on Georgia.  Almost every prognosticator seemed to say UGA would either be one of the last four teams in, or one of the last four out.  But it turns out that none of them were correct, and Georgia ends up as a 10 seed, facing 7th seeded Washington in Charlotte on Friday.

I'm surprised, but only because I've been hearing bad things so frequently the last few days about this.  I don't care whether it's deserved or not; I'm just happy to see the Dawgs earning a spot in the big tournament for once.

Georgia Loses to Alabama, but it Isn't Over Yet

Because the fact of the matter is, no one knows where UGA is going to go.  I've heard plenty of prognosticators say that even with a loss to Alabama, Georgia should still be in the NCAA Tournament.  That may be so, and perhaps as long as there aren't any huge bubble busters coming in the next two days, UGA should be in.  

I find it most relaxing to just sit back, think positively, and wait to see what happens.  As a Georgia fan, the easiest route is to be angry over a very frustrating loss, throw your hands up, and scream about how, "Well now we've done it!  We're going to the NIT!  And we deserve it with how we played!"  But a frustrating loss doesn't change that Georgia has a very good résumé, won the "must win" game against Auburn, and gave up a big lead to lose in overtime against the Tide.  

I have no idea what the committee will do and how things will shake out, but I'm not going to worry too much about it.  Before Thursday's game against Auburn, the general consensus I heard was, "Georgia really needs to win this game to feel good about the NCAA tournament, but if they lose, they still have a decent shot."  Then after handily taking care of Auburn, I heard about the Alabama game, "Georgia really needs to win this game to feel good about the NCAA tournament, but if they lose, they should still have a good shot to get in."  Which tells me that it's all up in the air, and we'll see how it shakes out.  That's all we can do.

Why Tomorrow's Game is BIG for Bball Dawgs

The 20-9 (9-6 SEC) Bulldogs will take on Alabama in Tuscaloosa tomorrow at 1:30 PM.  Why is this game big, other than still needing to win to feel comfortably in the NCAA tournament?

The last time Georgia's basketball team won 10+ games in the SEC?  The 2002-03 season, where they went 11-5 in SEC play.

And the last time Georgia won 21 games in regular season play?  The 1996-97* season (21-7 regular season record).

*The 2001-2002 season if you count the win over Georgia Southern.

What did Georgia Basketball Accomplish in 2009-2010?

The Hoop Dawgs finished with a losing record (14-17) and didn't get accepted to the NCAA tourney or the NIT, but that doesn't mean that this season was a disaster. A few quick facts:

- Georgia hadn't beaten both Florida and Tennessee in the same season since 2003-2004... until this season.

- Georgia continued their long-running home-win streak against Georgia Tech.

- As David Hale pointed out today, Georgia went 4-8 in games against NCAA tournament teams. That doesn't sound too great, but just think about it. Winning four NCAA tourney games gets a team to the Final Four. This Dawgs squad can contend with anyone, and they showed that many times this season.

- And finally, Georgia basketball gave us some great moments, including a plethora of Travis Leslie dunks and Trey Thompkins domination.

It wasn't a great year by any stretch, but the Dawgs have a lot to look forward to in 2010-2011.

SEC Basketball Tournament: Can Georgia Make a Run Again?

Remember 2008? If not, maybe this YouTube video will refresh your memory. If you still don't remember, then at least you can enjoy listening to Aerosmith's "Dream On."



That time, the Dawgs beat Arkansas in the final game to become the unlikely SEC Tournament Champions. This time, Georgia plays Arkansas in the first round tomorrow (Thursday) night. Could it happen again?

Georgia vs. Kentucky Tonight: See Leslie Dunk

Come watch the Dawgs take on the #3 Wildcats at 8 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum in their last home game of the season. If you don't watch the game, you might miss something like this:

Hoop Dawgs Continue to Dominate at Home

Georgia may be 13-14 overall this season (5-9 in the SEC), but you'd never guess that they're at the bottom of the SEC East by looking at their home record.

The Dawgs are 13-3 (5-2 SEC) at Stegeman Coliseum this year. I'm starting to think that this calls for a new nickname for the Stegosaurus.

There's only one home game left this season: the #2 Kentucky Wildcats on Wednesday night. A win on Wednesday would be a great way to finish the Dawgs' dominant home season.

(Side note: Georgia hasn't won 14 regular season home games since 2006-2007).

Hoops Dawgs Struggle: Are they a "home" team?

Fun hoops fact:

This season at Stegeman Coliseum, the Georgia basketball team is 9-2 (1-1 SEC).

Away from Athens, they are 0-7 (0-3 SEC).

It's looking more and more to me like they're a "home" team, that is, they perform well at home, but when away they're plagued by turnovers and haphazard ball handling. At least they're doing well somewhere, unlike some Georgia teams of the past.