Washington Versus Georgia Preview

When the Washington Huskies face the Georgia Bulldogs tonight, the Huskies will be playing out east for the first and second round (this year second and third) for the first time in nearly seven years. That stat goes  to show how well Lorenzo Romar has improved the basketball program. Generally, if you are one of the best teams out west you will be playing your first two games on the west coast.

However, that is not the case this year. The Huskies were forced to make the near 3000 mile trek across the country to see if the Huskies can advance to the round of 32 for the fifth time in seven years. This time it might be a bit more challenging then in past years.

Not only are the Huskies making the long trip to Charlotte North Carolina, they will be playing a team that will feel like their at home. Athens, Georgia is only a 200 mile trip away from Charlotte, North Carolina and the Bulldogs should have plenty of supporters making the three hour drive to cheer on their  team.

In addition, Lorenzo Romar has struggled getting NCAA Tournament wins in the Eastern Time Zone. In fact, in his tenure at Washington Romar is 0-3 in NCAA Tournament games in the Eastern Time Zone. The three previous losses were to UAB in 2004, to Uconn in 2006 and to West Virginia in 2010. Were the past three games unlucky? Or does Romar have a tough time getting his teams ready for eastern time zone games.

I think we will have a pretty good answer to that question at the end of tonight's game. Georgia is a very beatable team if we use our strengths to our advantage. The Huskies are way more athletic, talented and have way more NCAA tournament experience. If the Huskies can use all those things to their advantage then the Huskies should win easily despite the crowd being against them.

The only way I see Georgia pulling off the upset is if the Huskies can't control their emotions and don't rebound well. Even though Georgia is a decent team, they didn't have the type of competition the Huskies had in non conference play and Conference play.The Pac 10 has a much better conference then the SEC which makes Georgia the inferior team.

Personally, I think the Huskies win pretty easily tonight. The Huskies are much deeper then Georgia, which could become a factor if their is foul trouble. As long as the Huskies take care of basketball, the Huskies will win the game 81-63. Georgia will stay in the game for most of the first half before the Huskies flex their muscles for the double digit win.

The game will be seen on CBS and will tip at approx. 6:45pm.