Georgia entered the Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday for the first time in 14 years. One day later, on Tuesday, the Bulldogs played at Tennessee. Four days after that, on Saturday, they’ll host Auburn.
Ridiculous, right?
If you aren’t aware of the specifics, what I’m trying to tell you is that after entering the AP poll for the first time in 14 years, Georgia’s first game was on the road against the team ranked No. 1 last week (Tennessee), and its second game will be at home against the team ranked No. 1 this week. According to BartTorvik.com, that’s the toughest two-game home-road split that exists in any conference this season.
I’ve heard some suggest Georgia needs to beat Auburn this weekend to keep its national ranking — but I’m not so sure. Do the Bulldogs need to avoid a second straight blowout to keep their ranking after losing 74-56 at Tennessee earlier in the week? Perhaps. But Georgia is 23rd in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, same as it is in the AP poll. And I’ve just never believed it’s absolutely necessary for a team ranked 23rd to beat teams ranked first (Auburn) and fifth (Tennessee) in order to keep a No. 23 next to its name.
At worst, on Sunday morning, Georgia will be 14-4 with wins over the teams ranked No. 6 (Kentucky) and No. 25 (St. John’s) in the Top 25 And 1 — and losses only to the schools ranked No. 1 (Auburn), No. 4 (Marquette), No. 5 (Tennessee) and No. 14 (Ole Miss). In other words, on Sunday morning, the worst-case scenario still has Georgia with two wins over teams in the Top 25 And 1 and zero losses to unranked teams. That body of work would still be rankable, in my opinion, unless Auburn embarrasses the Bulldogs on their home floor — and, even then, maybe so.
As always, we’ll see.
Or not.
Because the best way for Georgia to turn every word you just read into moot points is to just beat Auburn and remain undefeated at home. Do that, and the Bulldogs will be at no risk of falling out of anybody’s rankings — or, at least, they shouldn’t be. To be clear, no, an upset isn’t likely. And, for what it’s worth, EvanMiya.com only gives Georgia a 32.8% chance to pull it off. But, it should be noted, crazier things happen in this sport literally every weekend, and that’s why the idea of college basketball’s top-ranked team losing inside Stegeman Coliseum this afternoon should not be totally dismissed.
