Georgia vs Western Carolina 11/7/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Western Carolina Catamounts and Georgia Bulldogs meet Monday in college basketball action at the Stegeman Coliseum. The Western Carolina Catamounts have won 11 games each of the last two seasons. The Georgia Bulldogs have nowhere to go but up after winning 6 games last season. 

The Western Carolina Catamounts enter the second year under coach Justin Gray. Vonterius Woolbright returns after averaging 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds, while Cam Bacote averaged 8.1 points and 2.8 assists. Marlow Gilmore averaged 4.8 rebounds and Tyler Harris averaged 4.1 rebounds. Western Carolina lost its top-2 players in Nicholas Robinson and Travois McCray, but there’s a lot of returning depth on this roster. The Catamounts just need to find somebody who can take charge and lead the team. Woolbright is obviously best positioned to be that guy, given he’s shown he can do a bit of everything. 

The Georgia Bulldogs will begin the Mike White era. Kario Oquendo returns after averaging 15.2 points and 4.3 rebounds, while Braelen Bridges averaged 12.9 points and 1.9 assists. Jailyn Ingram is a third double-digit returning scorer, and Jabri Abdur-Rahim averaged 3.2 rebounds. The Georgia Bulldogs return their top-3 scorers from last season and have a 4-star recruit in KyeRon Lindsay. Last season was dreadful, but there’s some talent on this Georgia roster, and it’s not crazy to predict the Bulldogs as the most improved team in the SEC.

The Catamounts are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 Monday games and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games. The Bulldogs are 6-15-1 ATS in their last 22 home games and 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games overall. The under is 10-4 in Catamounts last 14 overall. The over is 6-2 in Bulldogs last 8 overall.

I’m not a huge fan of Mike White, but there’s no doubt he has a bunch of talent on his hands in his first season at Georgia. After just 6 wins last year, Georgia should at the very least be in the thick of the SEC this season. The Catamounts have experience from a year ago, but they lack the guy or two who can take over, especially on the road against a quality side. The Georgia Bulldogs should win this game comfortably.