This is Part 1 of the Schedule Preview that we will putting out. There will be 4 parts released that divides the season into 4 parts beginning with the start of the year until the end of the season. These schedule previews will provide a quick snapshot of the opponents ahead on the schedule. We will also provide a more in-depth preview before each game but this will provide everyone with an overview of what to expect during this section of the schedule.

Schedule Preview – Part 1

Game 1 – vs. Oregon (Las Vegas) 11/6

Georgia begins their season with a difficult test when they travel to Las Vegas to take on the Oregon Ducks. Oregon finished the year ranked #44 in KenPom after failing to make the NCAA tournament and playing in the NIT. Kario Oquendo transferring to Oregon provides an interesting storyline to this game as his first game as a duck will be against his former team. This game is part of the Hall of Series taking place on the first day of the year, and it will provide excitement to kick off the year!

Game 2 – vs. Wake Forest (Athens, GA) 11/10

The schedule does not get much easier for Georgia in game 2 as they follow up their opening game in Vegas by welcoming Wake Forest in to town. This is the second leg of a home and home as Georgia lost at Wake Forest early last year by a score of 81 – 71. Wake Forest does lose their leading scorer from last year in Tyree Appleby but they do bring in a top 10 transfer class headlined by a pair of Gonzaga transfers (Hunter Sallis,, Efton Reid). This will be another tough game for the dawgs even at home. It is very important for Georgia to get at least a split here as an 0-2 start to the year would not be ideal.

Game 3 – vs. North Carolina Central (Athens, GA) 11/12

This is the first game on Georgia’s schedule that should be a definite win at home against NC Central. NC Central finished 2nd in the MEAC last year with an 18 – 12 record. There are a very changed team from last year however as they welcome in 10 new players on the team. Dawgs should roll in this one and we should start to see some of the young guys begin to stand out here.

Game 4 vs. Miami (Nassau, Bahamas) 11/17

This game is part of the Baha Mar tournament that Georgia will be playing in this year. They will play two games in the Bahamas on 11/17 and 11/19. The second games will be against either Kansas State or Providence. Georgia has two tough games to begin the season but this will likely be the best team Georgia plays until conference play begins. Miami is coming off a final four appearance and they are projected to be a top team in the ACC once again. They did lose their top 2 scorers in Isiah Wong and Jordan Millers but they welcome in highly ranked recruits as well as Matthew Cleveland who will make immediate impacts. This is an early season game that we can not except Georgia to win as Miami just looks too talented overall. However, if Georgia were somehow able to pull this game off, the hype around the team would skyrocket, and Georgia could be in for a special season.

Game 5 vs. Kansas St/Providence (Nassau, Bahamas) 11/19

This will be another difficult game for Georgia either way as both these teams are NCAA tournament teams from year ago. Since we do not know who Georgia will be playing, I will write a preview for this game the day before.

Recap

Georgia has a really tough 5 games stretch to begin the season. It is really important for Georgia to be better than 1-4 to begin the year. They might be underdogs in 4 of their first 5 games so they will likely need an upset for that to happen. A 2-3 or 3-2 record for Georgia is where I would project them after 5 games but a 4-1 or 5-0 record for Georgia would indicate big things down the line. This team will be tested early and we should learn a lot about how good this team is early in the schedule as it is a very difficult beginning to the year. We will not have anymore schedule previews in the offseason but will be releasing them on a rolling basis during the year. We will also provide a deeper preview closer to each game. Make sure to come back for all things UGA basketball!