See You In Charlotte

Georgia -- Mark Fox in particular -- deserves a lot of credit for its so-called “head-scratching” seed in the tournament. Fox made a point last offseason to assemble a schedule that would give them the best chance to get in -- tough, but not too tough.

It's a lot like when Georgia got surprisingly high seeds those two years Harrick made the tournament, except under Harrick they played one of the most difficult schedules in the country.

The selection committee loves RPI and strength of schedule, and Georgia had both of those things going for it in a big way. No bad lossses, and they got in easily.

I know this was a frustrating season in a lot of ways, because of the close losses and having Thompkins banged up so often, but I think it's important to appreciate where Georgia is right now. Making the tournament in itself is a huge, huge step for this program.

This doesn't happen at Georgia very often. Win or lose Friday, and they get the kind of positive exposure they've not had in almost a decade. (This is a legit tournament team, unlike in 2008, when Georgia wasn't much more than a cute little story.) Win, and you get to play North Carolina in front of the entire country. As long as you don't embarrass yourself there, that's another shot in the arm.

Washington will be extremely tough, but there is one thing I like about Georgia playing them -- I don't think many people nationally will give them much of a chance.

For one, they'll still be talking about how Georgia doesn't deserve a 10-seed more than about their chances of winning. Two, Washington won the Pac-10 tournament, so everyone will expect them to go on a run like they did last year. Again, Washington scares me, but before Arizona today they beat Washington State (which beat them the previous time they played) and Oregon (which isn't any good). It could be worse.

Four more days.