Not the best of nights for Bulldog fans.

It started as the basketball team blew a double-digit second half lead to Georgia Tech (sound familiar?). The Dawgs, up by 13 earlier in the half, couldn’t manage but 24 points in the second half and wilted under Tech pressure before losing 67-62. Tech gave Georgia every opportunity to put the game away, but Georgia wasn’t good enough to take advantage of the opening.

You can go down the box score…19-of-31 from the line. Outrebounded by 15. 12 Tech steals. 18 turnovers – most of which came in the second half. 8 Tech blocks on glacially slow moves to the basket. And it’s not like Tech was much better. 1-for-11 from outside. Around 60% from the line. Neither team shot better than 36.1%. It was Tech’s night, but this will likely be a bright spot in their own long season.

I think it’s the first time Tech can claim wins in football, women’s basketball, and men’s basketball in the same year, and that doesn’t sit well.

Now we learn that Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno are expected to announce their NFL intentions on Wednesday. UGASports.com is reporting that both are expected to declare for the NFL draft. It won’t be official until we hear it from the players, but don’t plan on either being back next season.

While Dawg fans aren’t happy to see either go, hopefully we can leave the bitterness out of it and wish both of them well. Both should be great ambassadors for the program at the next level, and it will be good publicity for Georgia to have two draft picks of that stature. Stafford is poised to become Georgia’s first first-round quarterback selection since Johnny Rauch in 1949.

Moreno is expect to become Georgia’s highest draft selection at tailback since Garrison Hearst in 2003.

It’s a good time to remember that players like Geno Atkins and Jeff Owens along with coaches Rodney Garner and Stacy Searels WILL be back next season.