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NCAA men's basketball tournament

Phil Coale, Associated Press

Georgia players celebrated when their NCAA tournament bracket position was announced Sunday.

Bulldogs shook up field

By CHIP SCOGGINS, Star Tribune

Last update: March 16, 2008

A tornado and an improbable performance by Georgia created a ripple effect that brought another layer of drama to an event that produces plenty of it each March.

Winners of only four SEC regular-season men’s basketball games, the Bulldogs completed a stunning conference tournament run Sunday to earn the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid after winning three games in a span of 30 hours.

That unlikely scenario — coupled with the late outcomes of other conference championship games — forced the NCAA tournament selection committee to consider eight different contingency plans with the bracket and kicked March Madness off on a promising note.

“In all honesty, it was such an unusual situation that it put us in a little bit of a time crunch,” said NCAA selection committee chairman Tom O’Connor, whose group finalized the bracket 20 minutes before the nationally televised selection show. “It was a little bit more stressful for us, but we were prepared.”

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The field of 65 has been set. Who are the Cinderellas and who are the favorites? The Road to San Antonio is about to begin.

Bracket Challenge: Start your own NCAA office pool

Selection Sunday is only a few days away. And it's not too early to get your office pool started in advance of the brackets. You also can sign up to play against the field and win prizes. Click on the headline, and we'll get you set up.

Upickem: Enter our round-by-round contest

You can join this contest before any round of the tournament and win prizes.

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