On the surface, it would appear that Illinois should be able to bounce back from its first loss and handle Georgia on Saturday at the United Center.

Take a look at the Bulldogs’ results and it’s hard to imagine them being able to win this game. Yes, they are 5-2, but the combined record of their seven opponents is 12-33. They beat a winless Eastern Michigan team by one point. They lost to Loyola-Chicago by 21. They beat Presbyterian, wherever that might be, by eight.

They were picked to finish in last place of the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division. So, on one hand, the Illini’s status as an eight-point favorite somehow doesn’t seem enough. But as you would expect, coach Bruce Weber says not so fast.

“Georgia is an SEC team, an NCAA Tournament team last (season), a good team,” he said. “We can’t overlook this game.”

Much has been said about Georgia’s youth. But the starting five the Bulldogs have used for the most part is older than the Illini’s first five. They have used two seniors, a junior and two sophomores while the Illini have used two seniors and three sophomores.

And now that freshman Trey Thompkins is healthy after missing several games with numerous injuries, Georgia’s prospects are improving. Thompkins has yet to start a game but he is the team’s leading scorer at 14.3 points per game.

“He is a really special player, we knew that coming in,” Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. ”We were expecting him to make a big immpact, especially offensively. We knew coming into the year he was a critical piece to our team this year.”

Many of the Georgia players who are getting major minutes were part of last season’s team that made a shocking run in the SEC Tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament. They entered the tournament 13-16 and won four games in as many days before losing in the first round of the NCAAs.

If you recall, a tornado hit Atlanta during the SEC Tournament and Georgia’s quarterfinal game was delayed by a day. The Bulldogs had to win two games on Saturday in front of a crowd of several hundred fans and family members to reach the tournament championship game. So, these guys know how to win.

The Illini only hope the Bulldogs don’t put it all together in Chicago.

“Coming into the season I expected us to be a team that shows our youth a lot, especially early,” Felton said. “We have tremendous potential to improve as the season goes along.”