Georgia basketball coach Mike White took the podium taking up for his team on Wednesday, coming across as having a chip on his shoulder.

The Bulldogs bring back four starters from one of 10 SEC programs to have made the past two NCAA tournaments, but they were picked to finish 11th of the league’s 16 teams in the 2026-27 preseason poll earlier this week.

“I thought we were underrated last year, I think we’re underrated this year, I honestly do ….” said White, whose team finished tied for seventh last season after being picked 11th.

“I think we’re more talented than people think.”

Indeed, Georgia didn’t have a player picked among the 15 on the SEC’s preseason first team, second team or third team this week.

Florida is picked to win the SEC, while Texas is picked to finish second, with Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama rounding out the top five.

A recent CBS sports article listed this year’s Georgia team as one of the most overrated and predicts the Bulldogs will miss the NCAA tournament.

If White and his team can prove the CBS sports report wrong, they will make history as the first Georgia team to make three consecutive NCAA tournaments in a row.

White explained why he’s optimistic his team will do just that

“I want to say we’re one of three in power conference basketball to bring back four starters, and believe it or not we also have nine new guys,” White said. “I like the other guys we brought in; we were able to bring in some winning experience and older experience.

“It’s by far the oldest team I’ve had at Georgia.”

It’s shaping up to be one of the closest, too, after last season’s team won five of its last six regular-season games to make the NCAA tourney before losing the final two — to Ole Miss in the SEC tournament, and to St. Louis in the NCAA tournament — to close out the season.

“Two years ago we had a wonderful culture, and that team had lost four in a row, that was Asa Newell’s freshman year …. and we didn’t bat an eye, our backs were against the wall, and that team strung together four (wins) in a row,” White said.

“Last year I don’t if we were quite as connected as that group, but this year, our culture is in a really good place, so that will help through all the adversity you’ll see in SEC play.”

Georgia will have an opportunity to showcase the program this season in high-profile games against blue bloods North Carolina and Duke.

The Bulldogs play the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill at 7 p.m. on Nov. 13 and face the Blue Devils in the prestigious Jimmy V Classic in New York City’s Madison Square Garden at 9 p.m. on Dec. 8.

“It’s the bright lights of college basketball,” White said. “And for the University of Georgia to be a part of that, that’s what we all signed up for four years in an effort to rebuild this program.”

The Bulldogs opened their exhibition season with a 94-61 win over Georgia State on Oct. 7 and will next play Charlotte at 7 p.m. on Friday before an Oct. 23 exhibition game at Clemson leading into the season-opening game playing host to N.C. Central on Nov. 2.