Out of Georgia’s potential opponents for Friday – Missy State, Vandy or Ole Miss – the Rebels seem to pose the scariest challenge, simply because Marshall Henderson can be so dangerous from just about anywhere across half court. The Dawgs edged out Ole Miss 61-60 in a tightly-contested game in Athens earlier this year.
In addition, the Rebels won this tournament last year, though I do not think that this year’s squad is quite as strong as last year’s with the departures of Murphy Holloway and Reginald Buckner from the inside.
In regards to the possible “letdown” effect, I really don’t see how that might even be a factor with this Bulldog team.
If anything, I anticipate Georgia players stepping into the Georgia Dome with a bit of a chip on their shoulders. Despite finishing tied for second in the SEC with Kentucky, UGA is still getting snubbed from both ESPN and CBS Sports ‘s Bubble Watches.
In the pre-game broadcast for the tonight’s opening SEC tournament games, analyst Barry Booker described the bottom half of the bracket as “wide open”, noting that he could see either LSU, Alabama or Ole Miss making a run in this tournament.
Add Booker to the growing list of college basketball media personnel that are still not talking about Georgia.
(update)
7:43PM – I just saw on ESPN’s Bottom Line that network Bracketologist Joe Lunardi does in fact have Georgia on his “bubble”.
Hoop Dawg Blog (UGA basketball only) 
After watching MSU v Vandy, it looks fairly certain we’ll see Ole Miss. That said, the Ole Miss that showed up in Athens was much better than the one that shuffled out the end of its conference schedule. I like our odds. Now, should we make it to Saturday, it will seem like playing in Lexington. Royal Blue was the predominant color Wednesday night in the Georgia Dome.
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MSU and Ole Miss split on the season.
The Maroon Dogs have to be feeling good – that win last night snapped a 13-game losing streak!
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True! They have NOTHING to lose!
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Congrats to Marcus Thornton and Charles Mann on their post season awards! Regardless of our opponent on Fri, we have to be very careful since the Dawgs can be a slow starting outfit on offense sometimes!!! I know everyone seems to be worried about Marshall Henderson and his shooting ability from beyond the arc, but in the initial game at Stegeman he played”above the rim” and really hammed it up, Hanz and Franz like with his massive guns when he actually almost dunked!!! One whack across his nose should calm him down a bit if he pulls that nonsense again! This should calm his outside game also! We need to pack the Georgia Dome on Friday to support the Dawgs! Come on Atlanta Dawgs lets get out and support the Dawgs!
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I am going to be very disappointed if the Hoop Dawgs do not have at least 7-8 thousand fans in the Dome on Friday night. I know I will there! Hoop Dawgs!
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Guess what team was the biggest in-conference overachiever in all of college basketball?
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/margin-call-analyzing-college-basketball-teams-based-on-their-win-projections/
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Cool story – thanks for sharing!
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Wow – Arkansas’s bubble just got popped by the Gamecocks!
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