The Georgia Bulldogs basketball season came to an end on Thursday night after a disappointing 102-77 loss to the Saint Louis Billikens in the opening night of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, marking the second straight season Mike White’s team suffered an early exit.
And while the Bulldogs’ elimination from the NCAA Tournament was a let down for, the manner in how the Bulldogs loss, trailing the entire game in which Saint Louis led by as many as 40 points, was the biggest let concern for 92-9 The Game’s Mike Bell and Abe Gordon as they expressed concern of the state of the Georgia basketball program.
“I just don’t feel like from the outside looking in that the priority of being good at basketball is the same even is some of those non-revenue Olympic sports,” Gordon said as he and Bell were joined by Mike Griffith of Dawg Nation to discuss Georgia’s performance on Thursday.
“You’re not spending the money. You get what you pay for guys,” Griffith said in response as he explained why he believes Georgia’s deficiencies could be associated with their unwillingness to spend the necessary amount in NIL to land some of the country’s top talent, especially in-state talent.
“Mike White has come in and every year there has been some progress. It has not progressed as quickly as you’d like,” White continued as he praised White for leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament last season after a 10-year drought and their first season with 22 regular season wins in program history.
“It’s kind of a baby steps thing, but if you want to take that Goliath step, if you’re Georgia, you have to put your money where your mouth is,” Griffith said.Georgia needs to take 'Goliath step' to improve basketball
