The Georgia Bulldogs take on the Ole Miss Rebels on Thursday night in an SEC Tournament college basketball matchup. The game tips off at 7:00 p.m. ET in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Bulldogs are listed as 5.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at O/U 156.5 points. Below is my full preview, prediction and pick for this SEC Tournament college basketball matchup.
Georgia vs. Ole Miss prediction, preview
The Georgia Bulldogs are currently slated to be a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament. That would make it back-to-back trips to March Madness for Mike White’s squad. Last season, they were unfortunate to get one of the draws in the field, facing Gonzaga in an 8-9 matchup. The Bulldogs would love to win a game in the tournament this year and keep building in the right direction. The best way to do that is by improving their seeding. A couple of wins in the conference tournament could help them move up to at least a 6-seed. The Bulldogs could be a tough out in the tournament because of the electric style of basketball that they play. Georgia ranks third in the nation in points per game and 20th in adjusted tempo this season.
Ole Miss was as surprised as anyone to beat Texas by 10 points in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. The Rebels ended the regular season with the second-worst record in the SEC. They had lost 12 of their last 13 games heading into the conference tournament. However, due to a poor shooting night from Texas and a 23-point performance from Malik Dia, the Rebels got the win. This game against Georgia will be a much tougher test, but the Rebels finally have some positive momentum for the first time in a long time. This team still really struggles to score the basketball, which is bad news against Georgia.
Georgia vs. Ole Miss pick
This is technically a revenge game for Georgia. When these teams faced off in the regular season, Ole Miss knocked Georgia off in overtime, 97-95. Georgia does not really play low-scoring games. They are one of the fastest-paced teams and high-scoring teams in the country. That allows them to compete with almost anyone in the nation, but also opens the door for them to be upset. That is what happened in the first matchup against Ole Miss this season. Georgia should have learned some lessons from that experience and come more focused defensively this time around.
My best bet is on Georgia -5.5. Despite what happened in the first matchup, this game has blowout potential. If Ole Miss used up everything it had left yesterday against Texas, it could be a struggle to keep up with Georgia. The Bulldogs will be fresh after having a first-round bye and will use that hectic tempo to their advantage. If Ole Miss goes down early, this could get ugly fast. Ole Miss lost by 19 points to Alabama earlier this season, the team that places the most similar to Georgia stylistically in the country. This time around, the result could look closer to that game for the Rebels.
