Georgia Bulldogs men's basketball

Infobox CBB Team
name = Georgia Bulldogs

logo_size = 97px
university = University of Georgia
conference = Southeastern Conference
conference_short = SEC
division = East
city = Athens
stateabb = GA
state = Georgia (U.S. state)
coach = Dennis Felton
tenure = 5th
arena = Stegeman Coliseum
capacity = 10,523
nickname = Bulldogs
color1 = Red
hex1 = D60022
color2 = Black
hex2 = 000000
fontcolor = ffffff
h_pattern_b = _thinsidesonwhite
h_body = D60022
h_shorts = D60022
h_pattern_s= _blanksides
a_pattern_b= _thinblacksides
a_body= D60022
a_shorts= D60022
a_pattern_s=
3_pattern_b= _thinredsides
3_body= 000000
3_shorts= 000000
3_pattern_s=
NCAAfinalfour = 1983cite web |url=http://www.sicemdawgs.com/basketball/bk_his.php |title=History |publisher=Sicemdawgs.com |accessdate=2008-03-22]
NCAAsweetsixteen = 1996
NCAAsecondround = 1985*, 2002*
NCAAtourneys = 1983, 1985*, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002*, 2008
*vacated by NCAA
conference_tournament = 1983, 2008
conference_season = 1990

The Georgia Bulldogs men's basketball team represents the University of Georgia in basketball. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The "Dawgs," as they are sometimes called, play in Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia. As of the end of the 2007-2008 season, the Bulldogs have won one Southeastern Conference regular-season championship, two conference tournament championships and appeared in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament tournament ten times. The UGA men's basketball team is coached by Dennis Felton

Team History

Conference Affiliations

Georgia was a founding member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA), the first collegiate athletic conference formed in the United States. Georgia participated in the SIAA from its establishment in 1895 until 1921. In 1921, the Bulldogs, along with 12 other teams, left the SIAA and formed the Southern Conference.cite web |url=http://www.nmnathletics.com/attachments1/1533.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=4000 |title=Southern Conference History |work=Southern Conference 2006 Media Guide |accessdate=2006-12-11] In 1932, the Georgia Bulldogs left the Southern Conference to form and join the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Conference championship teams

Former NBA star Dominique Wilkins is considered the greatest player in school history. [cite web|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1973|title=UGA Men's Basketball|work=New Georgia Encyclopedia|accessdate=2008-01-12] However, in one of the great ironies of college basketball history, Wilkins never played in the NCAA tournament; the Bulldogs made their first NCAA appearance in 1983—which would have been Wilkins' senior year had he not opted for the NBA. The 1983 team made it to the Final Four of the NCAA Championship.

2008 SEC Tournament: The Dream Dawgs

In the 2007-2008 season, Georgia's men's basketball team came into the SEC Tournament with a 13-16 overall record and a 4-12 conference mark. At one point, the team sustained two five-game losing streaks during a 2-of-12 stretch in conference play. In the first round of the tournament, Georgia was slated to play Ole Miss, who had beaten the Bulldogs in the season-closer, securing the Rebels' only road SEC win of the season. The game went into overtime after Rebel David Huertas hit all three free throws after a three-point shooting foul, and looked to go into a second extra period after Chris Warren did the same. However, with 0.4 seconds left in overtime, Georgia senior Dave Bliss banked in the game-winner to shock the Rebels and send Georgia into a second-round matchup with Kentucky.

On the night of March 14, 2008, tornadoes hit Atlanta, in whose Georgia Dome the SEC Tournament was housed. The Georgia-Kentucky matchup was rescheduled for the early afternoon of March 15, 2008, with the winner advancing to play the SEC West's #1 seed, Mississippi State, later that evening. The remaining games in the tournament would be played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, the basketball complex of Georgia Tech, UGA's in-state rival. Again playing an overtime game in which Georgia star Sundiata Gaines fouled out, Georgia freshman Zac Swansey hit a turnaround three-point jumper with 1.4 seconds left to give the Bulldogs the team's first ever win over Kentucky in the SEC Tournament [cite web |url=http://www.georgiadogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=40731&SPID=3593&DB_OEM_ID=8800&ATCLID=1412682 |title=Georgia Takes Down Kentucky In Overtime |accessdate=2008-03-22] . That night, Georgia defeated Mississippi State 64-60 to become the first team since Kentucky in 1952 to win two tournament games in one day, and the first-ever #6 seed to advance to the modern (post-1992) SEC tournament finals.

In the finals, Georgia faced Arkansas, which had lost to Georgia 82-69 in the regular season. Georgia prevailed again, at one point leading the Razorbacks by nineteen points en route to winning its first tournament championship in 25 years. Sundiata Gaines and Terrance Woodbury were both named to the All-Tournament Team, with Gaines winning the tournament's MVP. The improbable list of achievements -- winning the tournament as a 6-seed, playing two games in one day to reach the finals, playing two games (against Kentucky and Mississippi State) in which Gaines fouled out with a substantial amount of time to play, doing it on a rival's home court, and winning four consecutive elimination games following a season during which their longest winning streak stood at three -- earned the 2007-2008 team the nickname of Dream Dawgs. [cite web |url=http://dawgs.com/forum/georgia-bulldogs/13483-dream-dawgs.html |title=Dream Dawgs |accessdate=2008-03-22]

With the victory, Georgia secured itself an automatic bid in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Georgia's appearance in the tournament was the tenth overall in team history and the first since the 2002 NCAA Basketball Tournament. After their SEC Championship run, the Bulldogs were seeded 14th in the NCAA Tournament, playing against the #3 seeded Xavier Musketeers. After developing a lead early in the 2nd half, the Bulldogs could not hold on, as Xavier went on to win 73-61. Sundiata Gaines is an unbelievable player and a better friend. Wanamaker.

Team Awards and Records

Conference Championships

Georgia has won one regular-season conference championship (1990) and two conference tournament championships (1983 and 2008).

Conference Affiliations:
*1891-95, Independent
*1896-1920, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
*1921-32, Southern Conference
*1933-present, Southeastern Conference

Players

Basketball Hall of Fame

*Dominique Wilkins, inducted on April 3, 2006

Notable Former Players

*Bob Lienhard
*Vern Fleming
*Willie Anderson
*Alec Kessler
*Jarvis Hayes

Home venues

* Woodruff Hall (1923-1964)
* Stegeman Coliseum (1964-present)

ee also

*Georgia Bulldogs
*Uga (mascot)
*Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate
*Southeastern Conference
*College basketball

References

External links

* [http://www.georgiadogs.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8800&KEY=&SPID=3593&SPSID=40731 The Official Site of the Georgia Bulldogs]