The NCAA Tournament explained: Does Georgia men's basketball have a chance?

The 2024 men’s basketball NCAA Tournament, known as “March Madness,” is on the horizon and for the first time since 2015, Georgia men’s basketball has a shot to make the tournament. For Georgia to make it in, what needs to happen and what goes into the selection process?

First, a dive into what is usually considered on Selection Sunday. The conference champion of all 32 Division-I teams receives an automatic bid. Then, the committee chooses the next best 36 at-large teams who round out the 68 that make the bracket.

While winning the SEC Tournament isn’t out of the picture, considering Georgia’s unexpected run in 2008 and the strength of the SEC in 2024, this remains unlikely. Georgia’s best bet is to gain an at-large bid.

While record plays a role, quality wins and losses are one of the biggest factors, usually in part with the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings. Although the NCAA has said NET does not play a factor in the selection process, it is typically a good measure.

NET takes into account scoring margin, quality of opponent, efficiency, strength of schedule, game location and results. Furthermore, teams are separated into quadrants, which can help determine what good wins are versus bad losses. If one wants to make the tournament, they need to have some “Quad 1” wins and avoid “Quad 4” losses.

Here are what the individual quadrants are made up of:

Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75

Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135

Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240

Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353

So far, Georgia is 1-3 in Quad 1, beating South Carolina on the road, but losing to Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida. Georgia is 3-3 in Quad 2, and a combined 10-0 in Quad 3 and Quad 4.

If Georgia is going to make its first NCAA Tournament since 2015, it needs to add more Quad 1 win, and avoid bad losses, as it has done so far this season. Georgia will have plenty of opportunity to make this hypothetical a reality, however, considering its remaining schedule.

Currently, Georgia has four remaining Quad 1 games, Alabama at home, Mississippi State on the road and both matchups against Auburn.

Georgia would likely need to win at least two of those games to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament, currently ranked at No. 80 in NET. Additionally, Georgia will want to continue to win the games that it should and look to finish in the top half of the SEC standings, winning at least one game in the SEC Tournament.

The 2014-2015 Georgia basketball team that last made the tournament, finished the season 21-12, 11-7 SEC that left them in a four-way tie for third place in the conference. Currently, Georgia is 14-6, 3-3 SEC.

It remains a longshot that Georgia makes the tournament and breaks its drought, the longest in the SEC, but is well within the realm of possibility.

The key for the Bulldogs? Just keep winning.