Georgia basketball knows run to ‘special’ NCAA Tournament doesn’t have to end against Gonzaga

Mark Few’s Gonzaga team has made it to nine consecutive Sweet 16s. The last time it didn’t win at least one game in the NCAA Tournament came back in 2008. The Bulldogs lost to a Davidson team led by Steph Curry, prior to him winning four NBA titles and two MVP awards.

“Boy, they’ve won a lot, you know, Coach Few and his staff and his players over the years have just done a phenomenal job and their team has been very consistent offensively and defensively,” Georgia basketball coach Mike White said. “They do what they do and they do it really well. Excited to really study them closer here these next couple days to see, you know, how much they’ve changed, but we’ve had a lot of success again with what’s gotten to this point as a program.”

Gonzaga went 25-8 this season, while winning the West Coast Conference tournament. Georgia comes in with a 20-12 mark.

But those two records are skewed somewhat. Gonzaga has only played one NCAA Tournament team since the calendar flipped to 2025, and the Bulldogs went 1-2 in games against No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s.

Georgia meanwhile played 13 in the SEC, including No. 1 seeds Florida and Auburn twice.

Georgia has wins against a No. 1 seed Florida, a No. 2 seed St. John’s and a No. 3 seed Kentucky, which also beat Gonzaga head-to-head in December.

White knows it’s an accomplishment just to get to this point at Georgia. He and Georgia players admitted they were anxious and nervous waiting to hear their name called on Sunday.

“I was just blessed to be able to be in this situation,” Georgia guard Silas Demary said. “I think just to think back as like a little kid, just always watching those games, especially during high school, like teachers turning on during the times in class, but just to be able to finally be a part of this moment and especially, you know, being able to come back and do it in year two, I’m just grateful and happy to be a part of it.”

When Georgia drew Gonzaga as its first-round opponent, White wasn’t filled with dread or disappointment. But rather joy.

"Incredible, incredible," White said on getting Georgia to this point. “But we want to celebrate in the spring we want to make some noise, we want to play well regardless. We want to play well and that stuff will take care of itself. But we have an opportunity as a team to make some noise, we do. We all took a leap of faith, we all came to Georgia to do this, to get Georgia the NCAA Tournament.”

In the last season prior to White’s arrival, Georgia won just six games. Through recruiting and the transfer portal, he’s built the best Georgia basketball team of the past decade, full-stop. In his third season running the program, he snapped the conference’s longest NCAA Tournament drought.

On Thursday, he and this Georgia team have the opportunity to end another long-running SEC streak. The Bulldogs last won an NCAA Tournament game back in 2002, when they beat Murray State. Every other SEC team has at least won one NCAA Tournament game in that time.

While White acknowledges his past time at Florida has little carry over to Georgia, He is 4-0 in first round NCAA Tournament games as a head coach.

Beating Gonzaga won’t be easy, as the Bulldogs are led by big man Graham Ike and guard Ryan Nembhard. But Georgia has ample talent as well, such as freshman Asa Newell and the sophomore duo of DeMary and Blue Cain.

Having played in an SEC that sent 14 total teams to the NCAA Tournament, Georgia won’t be overwhelmed by anything Gonzaga can throw at them.

It’s been a long time coming for Georgia to get to this point. And while White and his team savored the moment on Sunday night, they know they have a massive opportunity to turn an already great season into something even greater.

“We came to Georgia to rebuild and to get Georgia to a tournament, and it’s special,” White said. “We’re going to celebrate this spring though, and we’re going to prepare for Gonzaga.”

Mike White, Georgia players react to making the NCAA Tournament