It’s almost impossible to comprehend what has happened to the Georgia basketball team in the last 24 hours.  I tempered my thoughts after the Ole Miss win Thursday night (which now seems like 3 months ago) by reminding myself that it was an overtime win over a so-so team just for the right to get to the SEC quarterfinals.  In other words, exciting finish, but…big deal.

That’s all out the window now. 

Naturally all of us expected Georgia to adjust to the tornado, Friday night’s cancellation, the relocation to Tech, the noon start time, two games in one day, and Sundiata Gaines fouling out twice.  All in a day’s work to knock off two 12-4 SEC teams within 10 hours.  As Billy Humphrey said after the day’s second win, a tornado is nothing next to what this team has been through this year. 

All of a sudden the team that couldn’t buy a break all season has them in abundance and is on the precipice of the unthinkable:  an SEC tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.  A tournament that began as a death watch for the season and coaching staff has become one of the most memorable and unlikely runs by a Georgia team since, well, since a football team left for dead after Tennessee won seven straight to end its season.

Georgia has already made history by becoming the first #6 seed to play for the SEC title.  We might as well finish the story of stories off by winning the thing.

Fatigue is still very much a factor.  True, the Dawgs made it through the two-game gauntlet.  Whether adrenaline or just sheer will, they had enough to carry them at the end of the MSU game.  The night’s sleep and later start will help of course, but hopefully the team won’t wake up with their legs feeling like lead.

By the way, for Tim Brando and any Kentucky fans upset about a call or two…

Chuck Dowdle on WSB-TV, quoting Dennis Felton, reports that the SEC Tournament will move to Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum for the duration of the tournament. The AJC confirms. The Georgia-Kentucky quarterfinal will take place at noon on Saturday. Television coverage continues as usual.

There is no word yet on the semifinals, though we expect them to be played later on Saturday. Either Georgia or Kentucky is going to be at a big disadvantage in the semis.

Corey Butler has the right attitude:

“There’s a chance we could be playing two games in one day, which is kind of like the AAU circuit,” Georgia guard Corey Butler said.

“We could definitely pull it out, and we’d definitely be willing to play if it keeps us in the tournament.”

No word yet on ticket allocation, but this is going to be a huge mess. Check the news and get there early if you want to try to attend. Alexander Memorial seats almost 9,200 – almost a third of the Georgia Dome’s basketball configuration. There are probably 9,200 Kentucky fans per square mile in Atlanta this weekend.

I’m off to bed…I’m afraid that the view at sunrise isn’t going to be pleasant.

It has yet to be determined whether the Georgia Dome is able to host the remainder of the SEC Tournament. More severe weather is possible in Georgia on Saturday. Besides the state of the Dome itself, there’s still the question of asking tens of thousands of people to return to a possibly hazardous natural disaster scene downtown.

It seems unfathomable, but in an extreme situation, might the SEC decide to play the games elsewhere in metro Atlanta?

Philips Arena seems out. There is a concert scheduled for Saturday evening, and it’s right next door to the Dome. If there are concerns for public safety getting to the Dome, that would apply to Philips as well.

Gwinnett Arena is also booked on Saturday evening with an Arena League game.

Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech is yet another option, but is it available? Much of Tech’s athletic staff is either on spring break or at the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. I doubt they could prepare the arena.

It really does look as if it’s the Dome or nothing at this point. As Dennis Felton said in a telephone interview on WSB-TV, one could expect the NCAA Selection Committee to be pulled into the rescheduling discussion. The outcome of the SEC Tournament of course has major implications on NCAA seeding, and the Sunday evening selection show means that things in Atlanta must be settled unless the NCAA takes the unprecedented step of delaying the selection announcement.

I guess this is always an option.

Per Chuck Dowdle on WSB-TV, the Dawgs have made it back to the Marriott Marquis hotel. The team is still unaware of plans for Saturday. Coach Felton’s top priority, now that everyone is safely back to the hotel, is to get the team a good night’s rest. In a hotel right in the middle of downtown with emergency equipment swarming, I hope they can find some peace and quiet.

Mark Schlabach on ESPN speculated that it might be morning before any game times are announced. The fitness of the Dome to host the event still must be determined, and SEC officials are in meetings with the athletic directors to knock out plans. As I said earlier, it might take sunrise to learn the extent of the situation in the Dome/GWCC area. Local television has shown some incredible footage of flooding at the GWCC due to burst pipes. The World Congress Center looks to have taken more of a direct hit than the Dome.

Due to ongoing severe weather in downtown Atlanta, tonight’s last SEC quarterfinal between Georgia and Kentucky has been postponed.  The decision when to resume play will be made on Saturday by the SEC.  The SEC currently plans to play out the tournament, and either Kentucky or Georgia might have to play two games on Saturday.

One thing – when daylight comes and the real scope of the damage in the downtown area is revealed, will that affect the plan to resume play?  Other nearby areas from the World Congress Center to CNN Center to downtown hotels were hit much harder.  It’s possible that emergency response in the immediate area might affect access to the Dome tomorrow.

Let’s play two.

A severe thunderstorm, possibly tornadic, caused structural damage to the Georgia Dome and disrupted the Alabama-Mississippi State SEC quarterfinal in progress. Television cameras showed the structure swaying, and later shots showed holes in the side of the Dome as well as some siding ripped off of the building. Broken windows and downed utility poles and trees were evident downtown.

Fortunately there seemed to be no serious injuries in the Dome. There was also no shortage of Alabama fans to interview about hearing a freight train.

The storm caused a 60+ minute delay before play resumed, and Mississippi State hung on for the overtime win.

When we hoped that the Dawgs would play on Saturday, this isn’t what we meant.

Photo: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

For the schadenfreude-inclined, the second-best news to come from the Georgia Dome last night was Florida’s early exit at the hands of Alabama. Florida trailed by as many as 28 before mounting a second-half comeback that came up short. Though Billy Donovan took responsibility for not having the team excited to play with an NCAA bid on the line, he placed a good deal of it on the young team.

“It’s in front of our guys, what it takes to win,” Donovan said. “For whatever reason, I haven’t brought it out in them. They’re not committed to it. But I’m not necessarily really that excited about these guys being sophomores, to be honest. I don’t think people change a whole lot, and I don’t think you’ve seen the basketball team change at all this year. So it’s hard for me to get overly thrilled or excited.”

Hey – sometimes it is on the players. That’s tough on the kids, but they do have some role in getting themselves up for a postseason run. I’m not going to blast Donovan for his comments, but it did give me a chuckle to see Mr. Orlando Magic talking about a “commitment issue.”

But I think we have a commitment issue, too, which bothers me as a coach because I just got done coaching a group the last two years that was so committed. And to be with this group, I don’t think just because they’re going to be another year older that all of a sudden, everything gets resolved. I don’t see that.

Meyer’s $3.25 million annual salary is just the tip of the iceberg according to the contract he signed last summer.

In addition to the $3.25 million annual salary he agreed to last June, Meyer would receive $3.75 million in retention bonuses until the deal expires after the 2012 season, according to a copy of the contract the Times-Union acquired through a public- records request made last summer and received Tuesday. There’s also a buyout clause that would pay Meyer $2 million for each year left on the deal if he were to be fired.

While it would be pretty expensive for Florida to part ways with Meyer, the commitment isn’t exactly reciprocal.

Also in the new contract is a clause that provides Meyer with a window of Dec. 1 to either Jan. 2 or until seven days after a Gators bowl game to take another job. If Meyer breaks his contract, he would owe UF $500,000. That’s up from $150,000 in his previous deal.

$500k to break a contract is an afterthought these days.

Last week Josh over at the NCAA’s Double-A Zone linked to an LA Times article illustrating the lack of success for bubble teams (seeds 9-12) in recent NCAA Tournaments. The premise is right – bubble teams create a lot of excitement during the homestretch of the regular season as teams jockey for the last few at-large bids, but they really matter very little when it comes down to the Sweet Sixteen and beyond.

But at that point, it’s not really about championships or even advancing very far. Winning games in the tournament is great, sure, but marginal teams outside the higher seeds care mostly about access – entry into the club.

That’s why people like Jim Boeheim are so vocal about expanding the tournament. It’s not that a Syracuse team at .500 in its conference is a legitimate national title contender. It’s that a bid to the tournament is the basic status symbol in college basketball. You hang banners, put it on your coaching resume, flaunt it in front of prospects, and make as big of a deal over it as you can. There is enormous media exposure at stake in everything from the games themselves to countless previews breaking down the brackets. Go far enough and it can transform a school, but just being a part of the process is enough for many schools.

In the eyes of fans, a bid to the NCAA Tournament is the baseline for a successful program. It’s relevance and legitimacy. The seed might not be what you’d like in a given season, but you’re still at least a part of the picture. Miss the tournament once, and it’s a problem. Miss it a few times, and it’s time to look for a new coach.

Football fans are familiar with this issue: playing in a BCS bowl is a big deal. A playoff would be an even bigger deal for those teams invited because those 8 or 16 teams would have access to the hype surrounding a national title chase. It’s not hard to see why bracket creep is so attractive to those on the outside of the club.

The SEC Women’s Tournament returns to Nashville this weekend. The tournament last took place in the Music City in 2004, and the results were generally kind to the Lady Dogs. It was also the last time that Georgia didn’t earn a first-round bye and entered the tournament as the #5 seed with a game on Thursday.

In 2004, the Lady Dogs overcame the disadvantage of the extra game and moved into the championship game after a semifinal upset over Tennessee (Georgia’s last win against the Lady Vols). The championship game was a painful loss for Georgia as they built a 20 point lead and watched it evaporate in the second half against hometown Vanderbilt. We’d find out later that a stomach virus had struck the team, but it didn’t make the loss sit any better. Georgia built on that SEC Tournament run to go deep into the NCAA Tournament, losing to LSU in the final seconds of the regional finals with the Final Four on the line.

The 2008 bracket seems as favorable as it could be for Georgia to have more success in Nashville. They should get by Alabama easily. Kentucky is as weak a 4-seed as the conference has seen in a while (LSU was #4 last year), and the awful 47-44 home loss to Kentucky still has to dig at the Georgia team. If they can get past Kentucky to the semifinals, they’ll likely face LSU. LSU is a great team of course, but Georgia played them well in Baton Rouge and shouldn’t back down if the teams meet again.

Cream of the crop

• #1 LSU (14-0). Candace Parker will likely win more postseason honors and be drafted higher, but none of the teams contending for the national title rely on one player like LSU relies on Sylvia Fowles. She scores when she wants to, and inside shots are often sent right back at high velocity. Three of LSU’s four losses came when Fowles was injured prior to SEC play, and the only other loss was a close one to UConn. LSU has a bit of an outside game with Quianna Chaney for balance, but Fowles is still the key to the machine. LSU doesn’t have an especially explosive offense, so expect their scores to be low unless turnovers factor in.
• #2 Tennessee (13-1). It can’t sit well that they’re not the top seed at the SEC Tournament, not with a #1 NCAA Tournament seed still in play.  Tennessee has had a solid season as always, but they’ve had moments that make you scratch your head.  Long scoring droughts have been the biggest problem for the Lady Vols this year, and the perimeter game can be hit or miss.  While the Tennessee supporting cast is stronger than LSU’s, more is expected of it.

Pain in the ass

• #3 Vanderbilt (11-3). I can think of no better way to describe them. You hear LSU, Tennessee, blah, blah, blah, and there’s Vandy cutting down the nets. They can score points in a hurry, and their defense challenges your perimeter game. They beat likely second-round opponent Auburn by around 30 points just a week ago, so go ahead and pencil Vandy into the semifinals. To advance to Sunday, they’ll have to beat a Tennessee team that’s beaten them twice by double digits.

Something to prove

• #4 Kentucky (8-6). Everyone expected Kentucky to stumble at some point. They didn’t play particularly well out of conference and are 14-14 overall. They had the Schedule of Death this year playing both LSU and Tennessee twice. Despite that, they beat Georgia and Auburn and went until the final game of the season before they lost to a team seeded 5 or below. South Carolina’s win at Lexington to close the regular season was perplexing after the Wildcats had just come within four points of LSU a week earlier.
• #5 Georgia (8-6).  Georgia’s 13-0 start masked more close finishes than I care to recount.  The team was exposed soon enough and started SEC play 4-5 with a pair of nonconference losses thrown in as well.  This has been one of the weakest Georgia backcourts that I can remember, but they got it together a bit during the end of the season and won four in a row before dropping the regular season finale to Tennessee.  Defense has been strong for much of the year.  Close losses to teams like Tennessee, LSU, and Oklahoma have shown Georgia’s ability to play with most programs, but they have yet to get over the hump and beat a ranked team this year.  Advancing to Saturday would be nice, but they might have to knock off LSU to avoid an unfavorable NCAA seed.
• #6 Auburn (7-7).  Auburn started 12-1 with a win over Ohio State in there.  That start earned them a ranking, but they soon went into a 1-5 tailspin interrupted only by a 30-point win over Georgia.  Losses to Florida and Ole Miss have them very much on the NCAA bubble, and they might have to beat Vanderbilt to guarantee a spot.  They’ll have 20 wins if they can beat Arkansas, and that always looks good on the resume.

Might make it to Friday

• #7 Florida (6-8).  All in all, this wasn’t a bad year for a Florida team that was the 11-seed a year ago and welcomed a new coach this year.  They were a better team, and their seed reflects that.  Their best win of the year was probably an upset of Auburn.  They’re just a few wins short of being NCAA Tournament material, but that might be getting ahead of things for the first year of the turnaround.  They should still receive a WNIT berth, but they can’t overlook South Carolina in the first round.
• #8 Ole Miss (6-8).  Ole Miss has had an unremarkable season with a win over Auburn the lone standout win.  They had won 3 of 4 before blowing a lead to Florida in the last game.  You’d call them the favorite in this 8-9 matchup, but they split the season series with their rival.
• #9 Miss. St. (4-10).  The Bulldogs have had a bit of a disappointing season. As usual, they have a strong record at home (Starkville is just one of those places), but this year they haven’t done much away from the Hump.

Upset Special?

• #10 South Carolina (4-10). Last year I got lucky and picked Florida’s first-round upset win at the #11 seed. I’ll go with South Carolina this year over Florida. The Gamecocks beat Florida recently, and South Carolina has a bit of momentum after knocking off Kentucky in Lexington last weekend. Florida had to put together a big comeback to beat Ole Miss over the weekend, and they have a new coach in her first SEC Tournament.

No hotel reservations

• #11 Arkansas (2-12). Yes, this team started 15-0 and was ranked at one point. Then they lost a key player to injury, and the season has more or less imploded on itself. Their season should come to a quick end against Auburn.
• #12 Alabama (1-13). An “upset” of South Carolina is their only SEC win in two seasons.

Someone really needs to make that hat before this season’s game.

Michael Adams had some comments in a Chattanooga Time Free Press look at the "arms race" in college athletics and a new fundraising drive at Tennessee. Adams has made headlines not only for his playoff proposal but also for speaking out against the increased commericalism in college sports.

“I do believe there are some (athletic) programs that are heading toward a cliff, and I’m not sure these kind of increases in spending can be sustained,” he said.

Georgia is not one of those programs.

“We are very fortunate at the University of Georgia to have a loyal fan base that allows us to remain on the plus side of the ledger and to actually have a surplus of funds (in the athletic program) even though we don’t use any taxpayer dollars” (Adams) said.

While the article touched on the struggles of smaller programs like UTC and their reliance on student fees to fund athletics, academics like former UTC Chancellor Bill Stacy have their heads in the clouds.

“But I also long for the day when Tennesseans are as eager to see a poetry reading or hear an academic lecture as they are to go to a football game,” he said.

Not many people expected a favorable result from a road swing to Kentucky and Vanderbilt, and the 0-2 result is no surprise. While we can take some pride in being in position to win at Kentucky or leading after a half in Nashville, losses continue to pile up. It’s becoming very much like the 2004-2005 season where the Dawgs were often competitive but usually ran out of gas against deeper and more talented SEC teams. While this Georgia team is a bit more talented than the group that went 2-14, the results are looking similar.

After a home game against Florida, Georgia gets three opportunities against struggling SEC West teams. Can they break through with road wins at Auburn and LSU? Can they prey on the road woes of Ole Miss?

Florida comes to Athens on Wednesday in the unique position of being both the two-time defending national champion and also a bubble team. The Gators are just over .500 in the league, and their nonconference resume isn’t particularly impressive. With the spoiler role one of the few things left for Georgia, making Florida sweat the postseason would be a small consolation.

Speaking of the postseason, I think there are only three SEC teams who can feel certain of a bid at this point – Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State. Kentucky, Florida, and Arkansas all have good chances thanks to conference records above .500, but those three teams also have plenty of warts that make them classic bubble teams.

SEC Men’s Power Ranking

1. Tennessee: Welcome to the top of the mountain.
2. Kentucky: Got a big win over Arkansas to keep NCAA hopes alive.
3. Miss. St.: Survived against South Carolina.
4. Vanderbilt: There’s no place like home, but will that matter against Tennessee?
5. Arkansas: Missed a chance at Kentucky to solidify their postseason position.
6. Florida: Tough four games to finish the season. Are they on the bubble?
7. South Carolina: Took MSU to overtime.
8. Auburn: Holding their own against the dregs of the SEC West.
9. LSU: Impressive win over Ole Miss. This could be a dangerous SEC Tournament team.
10. Ole Miss: The freefall continues.
11. Georgia: Need to turn effort into wins.
12. Alabama: And still only a game out of third place.

Lady Dogs

As we enter the final week of the SEC season for the women, the postseason picture is becoming clearer. The top four seeds – LSU, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky – are more or less set. Georgia’s win over Auburn combined with Auburn’s loss at Ole Miss have the Lady Dogs in good shape for the #5 seed. That means that the Lady Dogs would be playing on Thursday for the first time since 2004, but they should have an easy path to a quarterfinal meeting with Kentucky.

Georgia had some business to take care of on Sunday before they could look at the standings. After a 30-point loss at Auburn early in January, the Lady Dogs came out in Sunday’s rematch determined to show that the loss was a fluke. They quickly built a double-digit lead thanks to a 2-3 zone that made Auburn star Dewanna Bonner a non-factor for much of the first half. With Auburn unable to hit from outside, the zone was able to choke off the interior.

A 6-0 run to close the first half brought Auburn to within 13 points and gave them some momentum, but Georgia built the lead back to as many as 21 points with 9 minutes left. When it looked as if Georgia might be headed for a 30-point win of their own, Lady Dog turnovers fueled a 17-2 Auburn run that closed the lead to just six points with only three minutes left. A Tasha Humphrey baseline jumper stopped the bleeding, and Georgia was able to hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Congratulations to Tasha Humphrey who became Georgia’s #2 career scorer in Sunday’s win. She doesn’t have much chance of matching Janet Harris’s 2,600+ career total, but few players in SEC history have been in that class. Humphrey has passed such Lady Dog legends as Teresa Edwards, Katrina McClain, and Kelly Miller, and it seemed as if she showed up on campus scoring 20 PPG and pulling down 10 rebounds.

SEC Women’s Power Ranking

1. LSU: In control of the SEC, but UConn too much to handle.
2. Tennessee: Coasting.
3. Vanderbilt: Auburn should be their final tuneup before the postseason.
4. Georgia: Tough to beat when they get offense from the guards.
5. Kentucky: Put a scare into LSU, but offense remains a problem.
6. Auburn: Two straight losses have them looking at a .500 SEC record and the postseason bubble.
7. Ole Miss: Nice home win over Auburn highlights a 2-0 week.
8. Florida: Unforgivable home loss to South Carolina.
9. Miss. St.: Tough to close with Tennessee and LSU.
10. South Carolina: Proving to be pesky.
11. Arkansas: And to think that this team was ranked once.
12. Alabama: Sacrificial lamb for the eventual #5 seed.

The NCAA has reversed its decision to vacate Oklahoma’s eight 2005 wins. Despite the use of two ineligible players for the entire 2005 season, Oklahoma’s “cooperation was a significant factor” in the NCAA’s revised penalty. Consistent? Arbitrary? Who cares?! 8-4 lives again.

So celebrate, Sooner fans – you are now officially allowed to remember that 42-14 win over Okie State, but unfortunately the 45-12 beating from Texas stands too.

The Big East has always been a bit of a Frankenstein conference with its membership changing depending on the season. Dick Weiss has some interesting thoughts about whether the Big East has grown too large for its own good.

Though the scope of the article is mainly about basketball, Weiss speculates than when commissioner Mike Tranghese retires, “we project this league will break up and go back to normal size with the seven football schools — excluding Notre Dame — going in one direction and the eight basketball schools forming their own league”. From a football perspective, you have to wonder what that will mean for emerging football programs at schools like Cincinnati and Connecticut who are enjoying the exposure of playing in a BCS conference as they make a name for themselves. Will a school like UConn be pulled in the direction of football or basketball?