Ranking the top 10 UGA sports teams of 2017-18

Published 6:54 pm Tuesday, June 12, 2018

To say the past 10 months have been eventful for Georgia’s athletic programs would be an understatement.

Two different teams won national championships, and another team made it to the national championship game and lost on the final play. Two teams won SEC championships. Three teams hosted the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on their home fields or home court (and one of those three advanced to the Women’s College World Series).

The question isn’t whether or not the Bulldogs had a successful school year where athletics are concerned, but rather which of those teams were the most successful. Taking only how far each team advanced in their season into account, here are the top 10 Bulldog teams of 2017-2018.

1. Women’s track and field: Georgia’s women’s track and field team won the NCAA Indoor Championship on March 10 to give the program its first national title. At the Outdoor Championship on Saturday, Georgia came just one point shy of Southern California and were forced to settle for second place.

2. Men’s track and field: The men’s team ended just one place shy of the women’s team for a tie for first place. It also won a national title (also its first in program history) with a 52-point performance at the NCAA Outdoor Championship, however it came in third place at the NCAA Indoor Championship. 

3. Football: The Georgia football team lost just one game heading into the national championship, a 40-17 loss to Auburn that it would later avenge on the way to an SEC championship. Off the field, Georgia picked up the No. 1 Recruiting class for the Class of 2018. They combined that with their performance on the field, as the Bulldogs picked up wins over Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia Tech and South Carolina before eventually falling to Alabama in overtime on the sport’s largest stage. 

4. Equestrian: Georgia’s equestrian team earned a conference championship at the end of March with wins against South Carolina and Auburn. The Bulldogs started their season with eight straight wins before falling to Auburn on Feb. 9, and then they lost to Auburn again in the NCEA national championship to end their season. 

5. Gymnastics: The gymnastics team missed an opportunity to advance to the Super Six competition by less than 4/10 of a point on April 20. In her first year at the helm, head coach Courtney Kupets-Carter led the Bulldogs to a seventh-place finish when the season ended at the NCAA semifinals. 

 6. Softball: Georgia softball’s season ended in the same place that it did two years ago: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Bulldogs won all but one SEC series during the regular season and hosted a regional and super regional round of the NCAA Tournament. They advanced to the Women’s College World Series, where they fell to both Florida and Florida State. 

7. Women’s basketball : Georgia improved in year three under head coach Joni Taylor as it finished the season with an overall record of 26-7. The Bulldogs fell to South Carolina in the SEC Tournament before picking up a win against Mercer in the NCAA Tournament, which they hosted in Athens. Their season came to an end in the second round of that tournament with a loss to Duke. 

8. Baseball: The Bulldogs earned their first winning season under head coach Scott Stricklin in 2018. Led by the bats of senior Keegan McGovern and junior Michael Curry, Georgia went 18-12 in conference play before losing in the championship game of the regional it hosted. The Bulldogs were swept by Duke in a double-header in which they only needed to win one of the games to advance to the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament.

9. Swimming and diving: Georgia’s swimming and diving teams finished within one place of each other in their respective groups. The men’s team finished in 10th place at the NCAA championships while the women’s team placed 11th. At the SEC championships, the women finished second while the men finished in third. 

10. Women’s tennis: Georgia’s women’s tennis team hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament before finishing the season ranked No. 7 in the final ITA team rankings. In the SEC Tournament, Georgia reached the semifinal round before falling to Ole Miss.