Athens, GA – USA Today is predicting that UGA’s basketball team will enter this year’s NCAA Tournament ranked 43rd as an 11-seed. Sports anchor Tevin Reeves met up with team captains JJ Frazier and Kenny Gaines to discuss the new rankings.

“We think we are better than a lot of people think that we are,” Kenny Gaines said. “Just like we thought we were better than we were placed last year when we were placed second to last, last year and we came out second in SEC. We are not really worried about what other people say. This is a team thing. We have to band together as a team. Fight what naysayers say and do what we do.”

Fellow captain JJ Frazier also has upbeat views on the upcoming season and the media attention.

“Its a great feeling to know people recognize us on the rise,” Frazier said. “We still have to take care of business everyday. It’s hard to win when people expect you to win. Like I said, take one day at a time and one month at a time, at the end of the month, we will be better.”

The Bulldogs have not reached the NCAA Tournament since head coach Mark Fox’s first year back in 2010. Their first game is against Georgia Southwestern on November 6th at 7 PM here in Athens at Stegeman Coliseum.

UGA USC GAME CALL UPDATE: Southeastern Conference officials has now confirmed the two controversial calls from Georgia’s game in Columbia last weekend. Tevin Reeves met up with starting cornerback Devin Bowman to ask about the team’s attitude going forward after the calls.

“Honestly, the game is over,” Bowman said. “But right now all we can do is worry about the task at hand and that task is Troy. We are only worried about getting better. Control what we can control.”

The Bulldogs are ranked 13th in the country in the AP Poll.

Correction: An earlier version of this article had a quote from fellow captain Kenny Gaines instead of JJ Frazier. The correct quote is now posted.