ATHENS — The Georgia Bulldogs will play five Saturday home dates — including four in a row in February — and five matchups against projected NCAA tournament teams in the SEC this season.
Those were among the revelations from what has been a piecemeal release of the SEC’s men’s basketball schedules this year. The SEC finally released its full conference slate Thursday. The league released the opponents without the dates last month. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs revealed their non-conference lineup earlier this summer.
As for SEC play, Georgia will open it on a Wednesday night, Jan. 4, at Stegeman Coliseum against Texas A&M. But then the Bulldogs play only two more home games the rest of the month. January will be a bear, with Georgia taking trips to Kentucky, Mississippi State, Auburn, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
The Bulldogs get five home games in February, with challenging trips to Florida, LSU and Texas A&M. Georgia draws Auburn, Florida and South Carolina twice in SEC play in the coming season. It ends the season on the road against Missouri. The SEC Tournament will be held March 9-13 in Tampa, Fla.
“Just like every season, getting our conference schedule raises my level of excitement because it means we’re getting much closer to actually playing games,” said coach Tom Crean, who enters his fourth season at Georgia with a 41–49 overall record and 14–40 in the SEC play. “That’s even more true today because we anticipate being able to not only play, but to do so with a full house at Stegeman Coliseum.”
The Bulldogs broke the school’s all-time attendance records each of Crean’s first two seasons. Last year, attendance was limited to 18 percent capacity because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Georgia’s non-conference schedule, which was released this summer, features a Nov. 13 road trip to Cincinnati, home games against Georgia Tech (Nov. 19) and Memphis (Dec. 1) and dates against Virginia and either Providence or Northwestern in the Legends Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Nov. 22-23.
Georgia is taking on the schedule with an almost completely remade roster. It features six new additions via transfer and three other freshman signees. Senior forward P.J. Horne is the only returning starter.
“The general consensus is the league will be tougher this year than last,” Crean said in UGA’s press release. “I know this team is working extremely hard and is coming together. We are excited about the opportunities ahead of us.”
GEORGIA MEN’S BASKETBALL 2020-21
(Home games in bold)
- Nov. 5, 2021 - Morehouse (exhibition)
- Nov. 9 - Florida International
- Nov. 13 - at Cincinnati
- Nov. 16 - South Carolina State
- Nov. 19 - Georgia Tech
- Nov. 22 - vs. Virginia in Newark, N.J.
- Nov. 23 - vs. Providence or Northwestern in Newark, N.J.
- Nov. 28 - Wofford
- Dec. 1 - Memphis
- Dec. 7 - Jacksonville
- Dec. 18 - George Mason
- Dec. 20 - Western Carolina
- Dec. 22 - East Tennessee State
- Dec. 29 - Gardner-Webb
- Jan. 4, 2022 - Texas A&M
- Jan. 8 - at Kentucky
- Jan. 12 - at Mississippi State
- Jan. 15 - Vanderbilt
- Jan. 19 - at Auburn
- Jan. 22 - at South Carolina
- Jan. 25 - Alabama
- Jan. 29 - at Vanderbilt
- Feb. 2 - Arkansas
- Feb. 5 - Auburn
- Feb. 9 - at Florida
- Feb. 12 - South Carolina
- Feb. 16 - at LSU
- Feb. 19 - Ole Miss
- Feb. 22 - at Texas A&M
- Feb. 26 - Florida
- March 1 - Tennessee
- March 5 - at Missouri
- March 9-13 - at SEC Tournament in Tampa, Fla.
