ATLANTA — Georgia sophomore forward Albert Jackson stood on Georgia Tech’s logo at midcourt and watched CBS reveal the field of 65 NCAA tournament teams on the big screen. A reporter reminded him that, just eight days earlier, Georgia fell to 4-12 on the season in SEC play after a 14-point home loss to Ole Miss.
Jackson tugged on his hat proclaiming Georgia as SEC champions and grinned.
“The odds of this,” he said, waiting for Georgia’s name to appear, “were one-in-a-million.”
Georgia won four games in four days, including three in the final 30 hours, and claimed the SEC championship with a 66-57 win over Arkansas on Sunday at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Bulldogs earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
It was a fitting end to an SEC tournament that featured a tornado, four games played on a court with “ACC” painted on both ends and a championship witnessed by just 3,700 people.
“This is more miraculous than anything I’ve been through,” Georgia coach Dennis Felton said.
Georgia athletic director Damon Evans said Felton would get to keep his job, a sentiment echoed by University of Georgia president Michael Adams.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an SEC champion coach go anywhere,” Adams said.
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