State of Georgia’s teams lagging again in men’s college basketball

The state of Georgia is reprising its role as a woebegone region for college basketball. Through Thursday’s games, Georgia State was the highest-ranked team in Division I from the state, sitting at No. 163 in KenPom. The Panthers were followed by Georgia Tech at No. 171.

Tech was followed by Mercer (No. 187), Georgia (No. 192), Kennesaw State (No. 229) and Georgia Southern (No. 237). The Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs were the lowest-rated schools in the ACC and SEC, respectively. To its credit, Georgia State has a winning record overall (12-10) and in the Sun Belt Conference (6-5). Mercer (15-13 overall, 8-7 Southern Conference) is also above water.

Ahead of Georgia State were schools from 46 other states, including Delaware, Hawaii, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. Of the three remaining states, one of them (Alaska) does not have a Division I school.