Georgia: Showdown for futility

Ole Miss guard Terrico White summed up Georgia’s basketball season in two simple sentences after last Saturday’s game in Oxford.

“We took Georgia too lightly,” he said. “Like in the film room, we were just joking, not paying attention to what they were doing.”

The Rebels won by 22.

And this may sum up the state of SEC basketball this year: Even at 1-11, Georgia’s Bulldogs aren’t alone at the bottom of the conference. The Arkansas Razorbacks also are 1-11, and the two teams will meet Sunday (not in the CBS-televised game, thankfully) possibly hoping to avoid a dubious distinction.

No team since expansion has won fewer than two games in the SEC. The winner of the Georgia-Arkansas pillow fight will clinch at least two league wins and avoid being grouped with some of the worst teams in SEC history. Who are those teams? Let’s take a look back at some of the teams who set back Dr. James Naismith’s great game.

Sewanee (1932-40)

Overall record: 13-104

SEC record: 3-76

And to think, Sewanee’s football team probably revered the basketball squad. The basketball team at least got to experience victory in the SEC. Sewanee, which lost back-to-back games to LSU by a combined score of 140-29 in the 1933-34 season, got its first conference win in its third year, beating Auburn 19-18. Sewanee finished its last season in the SEC with a 31-25 win over Chattanooga.

The school finally left the SEC in 1940 to concentrate more on academics. I can’t imagine why.

But let’s be fair and note one of Sewanee’s more distinctive marks. In 1958, Sewanee’s Jim Roberts grabbed 53 rebounds against Lambuth. It’s an NCAA record.

Georgia (2004-05)

Overall record: 8-20

SEC record: 2-14

Looking back, winning eight games (two in overtime) with that roster following the Jim Harrick fallout was a pretty impressive feat. Georgia had a frontcourt of Dave Bliss and Steve Newman, not exactly reminiscent of the 1985 Philadelphia 76ers frontourt.

Jay McAuley, a walk-on who was not even a star in high school, averaged 9.5 minutes per game off the bench. The lowlights: Georgia scored 37 and 38 points in back-to-back games against Vanderbilt and Florida and lost by 38 at Georgia Tech.

Tennessee (1993-94)

Overall record: 5-22

SEC record: 2-14

Allan Houston would later defend his father, coach Wade Houston, and claim he didn’t think the school fully supported the basketball program during this era. You knew the Vols were in trouble when they lost back-to-back games to Arkansas-Little Rock and Western Carolina. Coach Houston would resign at the end of the season. His replacement, Kevin O’Neill, booted nine of Houston’s players by the middle of his first season.

Tennessee’s starting lineup that year: Ed Gray, Steve Hamer, Shun Sheffield, LaMarcus Golden and Cortez Barnes.

Alabama (1968-69)

Overall record: 4-20

SEC record: 1-17

This team tied for the most conference losses in SEC history. Bear Bryant hired C.M. Newton to revive the program in 1968, and not even a legend such as Newton could compete with this bunch. The Crimson Tide started 4-5 but lost 15 consecutive games to end the season, including three overtime games in a row.

A frustrated Newton integrated the program by signing Wendell Hudson in 1969, not a popular move at the time, and finished with a 211-123 record at Alabama.

Georgia Tech (1953-54)

Overall record: 2-22

SEC record: 0-14

The worst SEC record in league history. Before playing No. 1 Kentucky, coach Whack Hyder (who eventually became Georgia Tech’s winningest coach) told his team to run with the Wildcats and see what happened. This happened: Kentucky 105, Georgia Tech 53. The Yellow Jackets lost by 51 in their next meeting with Kentucky, lost by 21 to the Georgia Teachers College and dropped a 114-67 decision to Furman. The Yellow Jackets were 0-20 before beating South Carolina and then Georgia nine days later.

Amazingly, the very next season, Georgia Tech beat Kentucky to end the Wildcats’ 130-game home winning streak.