SEC Basketball: Power rankings heading into the SEC season

SEC Basketball Power Rankings:
No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs

Don't look now, but it looks like Georgia is getting better. Year 1 of the Mike White era in Athens saw the 'Dawgs improve drastically over the final year of the disastrous Tom Crean experiment, getting to .500 after setting a new program record for losses (26) the year before. UGA fans are optimistic that they might be a little better this season.

Unfortunately, with the SEC improving as a whole, the Bulldogs' trajectory might see them with a worse record than last year, even though they are getting better.

All three of Georgia's losses have come against Tournament-hopefuls (Oregon, Miami, and Providence), but none of their wins have come over teams ranked in the NET ranking's top-75. Wins over three ACC programs (Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and Florida State) look better in theory than they do in actuality as those programs could pull up the rear in their conference this season as the worst teams in the league not named Louisville or Notre Dame.

Georgia ranks in the bottom-3 in the SEC in both field goal percentage and points per game, but they are one of the league's best at getting to the free throw line. Their top-3 scorers are all guards (a plus come SEC play), so if they start knocking down more shots, Georgia could sneak up and surprise some teams after the New Year.

The Tournament isn't happening, and the conference record might not be any better, but the "eye test" says Mike White has things potentially heading in the right way moving forward.