Welcome to the Bulldawg Illustrated Hoops Report: Georgia vs South Carolina. It’s like where the heck has that been? The Dawgs played Ole Miss last Saturday.

It was a must win for the Rebels to keep their tournament hopes alive and the Dawgs were in the midst of a three game losing streak. So of course UGA went out and throttled the Rebels 80-66. We got 76 points from Kenny Gaines, JJ Frazier, Yante Maten and Charles Mann. Obviously, the rest of the team combined for four. I’ve said all year if we can get 60 a game from our four studs then we’ll win a lot more than we lose. Unfortunately, that’s been the exception instead of the rule as of late.

Now we’re heading to Columbia, SC to play a team we routed earlier in the year. While Coach Fox has been good against the Lamecocks, we’ve historically struggled against them over there. They’re well coached and have some talent. However, I don’t think their coach is any better, nor their talent is superior. So despite the fact that their something like 14-1 at home this year, the game is winnable. Fox has figured out ways to win up there when Jirsa, Harrick, and Felton couldn’t. If the Dawgs find a way to get it done, they could really improve their SEC seeding. So whether it feels like it or not, there’s still a lot to play for.

So we’re 8-8 in the SEC right now. If we get to 9-8, a lot of things change. We have the tiebreaker over the Lamers. We add a quality win that only Kentucky has been able to replicate. We’d be winning a second consecutive game against a team with solid tournament chances. Yes, believe it or not, Ole Miss has an at-large chance, albeit a small one now. All of that makes this game big. If our best chance to make the Big Dance is win the conference tourney, then we need the best possible seed. Not much else to say other than Go Dawgs!!!