Georgia

If you want to make a challenging movie, you can't be afraid to ask the tough questions. Like: What if Courtney Love and Emmylou Harris were sisters? The answer can be found in "Georgia," a sort of "Sense and Disability" that stars Jennifer Jason Leigh as the skanky, smack-snorting, screechy-singing punk sister of a successful, mainstream recording artist (Mare Winningham). "Georgia" is a showcase for another of Leigh's flamingly dysfunctional females ("Last Exit to Brooklyn," "Rush")

Georgia coach Andy Landers didn't dwell on his latest career milestone. Kelly Miller scored 20 points and Landers reached the 500-victory mark last night as the fifth-ranked Bulldogs beat visiting East Tennessee State, 78-51. "He never talked about it at all," Miller said. "I saw it in our program before the game. " Landers, 47, is 500-149 in 21 seasons at Georgia. Among women's Division I coaches, only Vivian Stringer, Jody Conradt and Pat Summitt reached 500 victories in fewer games.

Maybe Purdue star Katie Gearlds can keep doing her best imitation of Peyton Manning, the home-state quarterback who is finally recognized as a champion. After helping the Boilermakers get within one victory of the NCAA Final Four with a 78-65 regional semifinal victory over Georgia, Gearlds insisted that the ongoing success wasn't about settling any personal issues. "I am going to quote what Peyton Manning said and say that I am not going to get into that subject right now," Gearlds said.

Xavier took full advantage of a Georgia team that was, well, 'Dawg tired. Led by Derrick Brown's 19 points and 11 rebounds, and super-sub Josh Duncan's 20 points, No. 3-seeded Xavier erased a double-digit deficit against fading Georgia to win, 73-61, yesterday in a first-round West Regional game in Washington, D.C. Georgia's players, who made a remarkable run to the Southeastern Conference Tournament title by winning three games in about...

Georgia was widely considered the hottest team in college football at the end of the 2007 season. A panel of Division I-A coaches remembered, voting the Bulldogs the preseason No. 1 in the USA Today Top 25 coaches' poll, released yesterday. Penn State, coming off a 9-4 season that included a 24-17 win over Texas A & M in the Alamo Bowl, is ranked 22nd. Georgia garnered 22 first-place votes in the poll, with No. 2 USC and No. 3 Ohio State each receiving 14 first-place votes.

Georgia basketball recruit Alexander Johnson said he took the SAT exam in December and knows nothing about an allegation that someone else was asked to take the test for him. University of Georgia officials are investigating the latest allegation of improprieties in the basketball program. The school is looking into charges that Ernest Shanks Jr., a Colquitt County High School guidance counselor, asked a student to take the SAT exam on Dec. 7 for Johnson, now at Bridgton Academy prep school in Maine.

In a testament to the institutional confusion of Congress, Georgia ended up with nearly $50 million - more than twice the amount requested - for a freeway project in the transportation bill that passed Friday. Georgia's congressional offices and the House and Senate committees that handled the bill confirmed this week that staff members had failed to coordinate the requests for the Fall Line Freeway project connecting Augusta to Macon. The bill sets aside $49.75 million to complete the 250-mile highway, when only $23 million was requested.

When they were 5-7, after they had lost to teams like Delaware and Penn State, the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs just went to the gym and worked harder, according to their guard, Willie Young. According to their coach, Mack McCarthy, it was a little more complicated. Things changed. Their pressing, attacking offense and defense. Their whole style of play. Their attitude. Their intensity. So if an entire coliseum was stunned yesterday as Chattanooga, seeded 14th in the Southeast Regional, took a 20-2 lead over No. 3 seed Georgia, the Mocs just looked at each other and smiled.

Gary Buchanan was the least-touted of Villanova's four freshmen. He was the first to earn a starting spot. Buchanan had some opportunities after finishing his career at Valley Park High School in St. Louis with 2,330 points. He longed for bigger opportunities. So, he spent last year at St. Thomas More, a prep school in Connecticut, hoping to get noticed. He got noticed. About a year ago, Villanova assistant Joe Jones started coming around, began making phone calls. And telling Buchanan he was a guy 'Nova wanted.

Coco Miller knew No. 4 Georgia was going to beat No. 9 LSU even before the Bulldogs took the lead for good five minutes into the second half. "We could tell they were having trouble with the zone, that it had thrown them off their game," said Miller, who scored 20 points in Georgia's 64-55 win yesterday afternoon in Baton Rouge, La. "We made them go outside, and that really isn't their game. " Ahead by a point at halftime, Georgia (15-2) cooled the Tigers (11-5) with a tight zone defense and outrebounded LSU, 12-5, over the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second half.