ATHENS — Georgia basketball still looks like an NCAA tournament team to Joe Lunardi, the ESPN expert who has been projecting the field since 1995.
Tennessee handed Coach Mike White’s Bulldogs a 74-56 defeat Wednesday in Knoxville in a game UGA led 26-25 at the half.
The No. 6-ranked Volunteers (16-1, 3-1 SEC) used a 19-3 spurt in the second half to pull away from No. 23 Georgia (14-3, 2-2 SEC), which next plays host to No. 1 Auburn on Saturday.
The Bulldogs were coming off back-to-back home wins over ranked opponents, having knocked off then-No. 6 Kentucky and then-No. 17 Oklahoma.
“I think SEC fans need to get used to this roller coaster,” Lunardi, who attended the UGA game in Knoxville, said on SEC Network. “I think we’re gonna see even the top teams in the conference taking losses, because … not just the top half of this league, but the top three quarters of this league are all NCAA tournament caliber.”
Lunardi said after the Bulldogs loss to Tennessee that Georgia still projects to make the NCAA tournament field — for what would be the first time in 10 years.
Lunardi’s most recent “bracketology” had Georgia protected as a No. 7 seed facing a No. 10-seed North Carolina in a game in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“On the road, (SEC teams) will have a hard time picking up W’s,” Lunardi said. “That’s what made Mississippi’s win (at Alabama) and Missouri’s (win at Florida) earlier in the week so impressive, and Georgia’s first half (at Tennessee).”
The Bulldogs ended up losing by double digits, but so had the previous nine opponents that faced the Vols at Thompson-Boling Arena this season.
“I’m still high on the Bulldogs, as well,” Lunardi said. “I don’t know if they have enough offensive weaponry to really make a dent in March, but they should be in the tournament.”
Georgia’s big issue in the loss to Tennessee was turnovers. UGA committed 19 of them, with only nine assists while shooting only 37.7% from the field, including 28.6% marksmanship from beyond the 3-point arc.
“(Georgia) is a team that was picked 12th in the preseason in the league, and maybe (the SEC) will send 12 to the NCAA tournament when all is said and done,” Lunardi said.
Lunardi also indicated that SEC teams that wind up 7-11 or 6-12 in the conference still could be bubble teams come March.
Georgia basketball has a tough road ahead, with top-ranked Auburn, Arkansas and No. 5 Florida still on the schedule this month. This stretch is the first time in the Bulldogs’ program history that they have played more than three ranked teams in a row.
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