ATHENS — The last time Mike White had an extra week with his Georgia basketball team, he turned his team and season around.
This time around, White will be looking to provide his NCAA tournament-bound Bulldogs a boost as they prepare for first-round action.
The 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Selection Show is at 6 p.m. on Sunday (TV: CBS). That’s when the 68-team bracket will be revealed and Georgia will learn who, when and where they play.
If the latest projections are accurate, the Bulldogs will be matched up against a traditional powerhouse in the first round.
ESPN Bracketology continues to project UGA as a No. 9 seed playing a No. 8-seeded Memphis in Wichita with No. 1-seed Houston likely awaiting the winner.
KenPom.com bracketology also has Georgia projected as a No. 9 seed facing No. 8-seed Memphis is the Wichita bracket featuring No. 1-seed Houston.
CBSsports’ bracket projects Georgia as a No. 9 seed playing No. 8-seed Illinois in Wichita with No. 1-seed Houston likely awaiting the winner.
The FoxSports bracket projects the Bulldogs as a No. 9-seed playing a No. 8-seeded Memphis in Raleigh, N.C., with a No. 1-seeded Duke awaiting the winner.
The USA Today bracketology also features Georgia as a No. 9 seed facing a No. 8-seeded Memphis in Raleigh with No. 1-seed Duke in the same bracket.
White, who has the second-youngest team in the SEC, plans to make the most of the next few days of prep.
“Potentially you add something or two,” said White, who added a 1-3-1 zone during the bye week that caught No. 1 Auburn off guard and perplexed in the team’s second meeting of the season.
“I should just go on record in case anyone watches this and just talk about all the different zones.”
White was kidding, of course, but his point was well taken.
Georgia will not be an easy out for anyone as well as the team is playing, having won four straight games to close the regular season, including a win over projected No. 2 seed Florida.
“It’s my favorite group I’ve ever been around,” White said after UGA was eliminated by Oklahoma at the SEC tournament last Wednesday night.
“I could call practice at midnight tonight, and we’d have a pretty good practice.”
It seems White has Georgia peaking at just the right time, the loss to Oklahoma aside, with a strong team chemistry that has motivated the players to put the extra work in with hopes of extending their season journey as long as possible.
“We’ve got group that is connected and they’re resilient with a consistent work ethic — positive responses to the adversities all year,” White said.
“Growth is something we talked about since June, and this group has really embraced it. They enjoyed growing together, collectively as a unit. We just gotten better and better.”
The team will gather to watch the NCAA bracket released on Sunday night before meeting the media to talk about the new future — and new narrative — surrounding Georgia basketball.
SEC NET RANKINGS
2. Auburn
4. Florida
5. Tennessee
6. Alabama
15. Kentucky
16. Missouri
18. Texas A&M
28. Ole Miss
33. Georgia
34. Mississippi State
39. Texas
40. Arkansas
43. Oklahoma
48. Vanderbilt
87. South Carolina
89. LSU
