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Oregon vs Georgia: 2023-24 college basketball game preview, TV … – Busting Brackets
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The wait is finally over. The start of the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season is officially right around the corner starting Monday, Nov. 6. Headlining college basketball’s opening night features a power-five duel with the Oregon Ducks taking on Georgia Bulldogs as part of the first game of the 2023 Hall of Fame Series at TMobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Oregon, who enters the 14th season of the Dana Altman era, welcomes the start of the 2023-24 season with NCAA Tournament-level aspirations. After settling for the NIT in back-to-back years (despite being ranked in the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll in both years), the Ducks have the pieces in place to make some serious noise.
Headlining Oregon’s roster features N’Faly Dante, who is returning for a fifth year after averaging 13.5 PPG and 8.4 RPG last season for the Ducks. Dante was picked on the 2023-2024 Preseason All-PAC 12 First Team, giving Dana Altman a pivotal backbone to lean on.
Another key piece returning for the Ducks is Jermaine Couisnard, who announced his return for a final season after only appearing in 19 games for the Ducks due to injuries throughout the season. In his 19 games last season, Coisnard averaged 12.8 PPG and expects to have a major role for Altman’s group this year.
Georgia, who is entering the second season of the Mike White era, welcomes the 2023-24 season with hopes of building off of a 16-16 (6-12) campaign. Although last season wasn’t deemed successful by any means, it was certainly a step in the right direction given the fact that the Bulldogs won just one SEC game in the 2021-2022 season.
Headlining the Bulldogs’ roster features a strong transfer portal class including playmaking combo-guard Noah Thomasson (Niagara), Russell Tchewa (South Florida), Jalen DeLoach (VCU) and RJ Melendez (Illinois).
Although Georgia isn’t necessarily projected to be an NCAA Tournament-level team at the moment (although anything can happen — it’s college basketball), the Bulldogs have the length and the defensive talent to be a tough matchup on any given night. This game will come down to two themes:
It’s always difficult to predict final scores, especially when it’s the first game of the season. Currently, BartTorvik gives the Ducks a 72% chance to beat the Bulldogs. Likewise, HaslamMetrics projects Oregon to defeat Georgia by a final score of 74-68.
With a freshly healthy roster, expect the Ducks to go to N’Faly Dante early, crash the boards and deploy a balanced offensive attack — giving them a close, hard-fought victory over a sneaky-talented Georgia squad to open the college basketball season.
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