From the hardwood to the diamond to the floor, vault, beam and bars, all the way to the fairway and beyond, the Dawgs are always in action. Each weekend, this BI team will bring you a preview for the weekend ahead in all Georgia sports. 

Dawgs in the NFL

For the 23rd straight year, Georgia is guaranteed to have a former player in the Super Bowl. It is tied with LSU as the longest current streak. For the Dawgs, the streak began with Richard Seymour and the Patriots making Super Bowl XXXVI, upsetting the heavily favored Rams 20-17. In the AFC matchup of the Ravens and Chiefs, Baltimore is home to Ben Cleveland, Nick Moore, and All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith. Kansas City has two former Dawgs on its roster: Mecole Hardman and Malik Herring. On the NFC side, the Lions have no Georgia alum, but the 49ers include Robert Beal Jr., Chris Conley and Charlie Woerner. Good luck to all the former Dawgs as they fight for a chance to hoist the coveted Lombardi Trophy!

Men’s Basketball

The Hoop Dawgs travel south to the swamp to take on those nasty Gators at high noon on Saturday, the 27th. The Dawgs rank fourth in the SEC with a 14-5 overall record and 4-2 record in league play. Georgia won in a battle with LSU on Wednesday night Russel Tchewa had a huge go-ahead and-1 bucket with two seconds remaining. Prior to the LSU home game, Georgia faced the Big Bad Blue Nation in Rupp Arena last Saturday. Despite being down by 28 points at one point, the Dawgs clawed their way to lose in a much more attractive score of 105-96. Senior guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim caught fire and dropped a career-high 34 points in the loss. Mike White has shown that his men are ready to battle with the blue bloods, but can he capture a win against his former team? 

Florida, on the other hand, is 13-6 after a victory at home against Mississippi State. Junior guard Walter Clayton Jr. is averaging 15.8 points per game, leading all Gators. However, Florida is just 3-3 in SEC play, ranking seventh in the conference. As projected on January 9th, the Dawgs and Gators were both predicted to be two of the four teams in the “first four out” conversation. A victory from the men in red and black would be a huge head-to-head advantage come tournament time. 

Georgia is +5.5 point underdogs. 

Women’s Basketball

The Lady Dogs have a no-ball weekend but head to the Plains for a league matchup with Auburn on Monday at 7 p.m. The Lady Dogs have struggled on the 2023-24 campaign, remaining just above .500 with a 10-9 record. Georgia is last in the SEC with a 1-5 conference record on a current five-game losing streak. However, Coach ABE, the former Lady Dog herself, and her squad are looking to turn this ship around as they battle the Tigers in Neville Arena. Javyn Nicholson, the senior forward, leads this Georgia team, averaging 15.6 points per game. Can Nicholson’s presence in the paint take down the 13-6 Tigers in their home?

Auburn is 10th in SEC with a 2-4 conference record. The Tigers are 2-4 in their last six games, but all three of the four losses were to top five SEC opponents. This fierce bunch also captured a huge win over the defending national champion and the current seventh ranked LSU Tigers, giving LSU its only league loss. If the Lady Dogs want to topple Auburn on the Plains, they must control the tempo and eliminate cold stretches because this Tiger defense is stout, allowing just 56.1 points per game.

Dawgs on Tour

Five Dawgs on Tour will be competing in this weekend’s Farmers Insurance Open. Due to the big championship weekend in the NFL, the tournament will be held Wednesday through Saturday rather than the standard Thursday-Sunday. The beautiful Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego plays host to the tournament with a $9 million purse on the line. Greyson Sigg, Harris English, Keith Mitchell, Sepp Straka and Davis Thompson are the Georgia alum fighting for an early win in the 2024 PGA Tour season. Golf.com’s analyst Kevin Cunnigham has Keith Mitchell as a long-shot winner with +6600 odds while Sepp Straka is the highest favored Dawg with +4500 odds. Good luck to the Dawgs on Tour!

Gym Dogs

The No. 18 GymDogs head to Lexington for a primetime matchup with the seventh ranked Wildcats. Courtney Kupets Carter’s squad is 1-2 on the year with their lone victory coming in the season opener over NC State 196.200-194.225. Georgia has since been on a two-meet skid, falling to No. 4 Arkansas and No. 9 Missouri. Kentucky, however, is 3-2 on the year and 1-1 in the SEC. Most recently, the Wildcats fell to No. 3 LSU 198.125-197.600 last Friday. The GymDogs must take over Memorial Coliseum, upset the Wildcats, and return home victorious!