In what will go down as one of the most incredible runs in the history of Georgia basketball -- there's work to do to top that 1983 Final Four team -- the Bulldogs have reached the finals of the SEC Tournament.

They'll face Arkansas for the tournament championship and the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament at 3:30 p.m. today at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, of all places.

Here's what they've encountered in the three days that have preceded it:

-- The Bulldogs took on teams seeded Nos. 3, 2 and 1 in succession.

-- Two of the Bulldogs' games took place on the home court of their bitter in-state rival, Georgia Tech. A third will take place today.

-- They had one game postponed by a tornado, then became the first SEC basketball team to play two games in the same day in 54 years.

-- Coming in with the worst record in league, the Bulldogs (16-16) won its third consecutive game by beating Western Division No. 1 seed Mississippi State 64-60.

-- They won their other two games over Ole Miss and Kentucky by a total of six points, both in overtime. They'll be looking to become just the second No. 6 seed in tournament history to win the championship.

"We're the ultimate underdog," said Georgia coach Dennis Felton. "We've just got to keep believing in ourselves."

With the wins, the Bulldogs reach the tournament finals for the first time in 11 seasons. They will be seeking their first tournament championship since 1983 and seeking the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

Only two teams have ever won four SEC tournament games in four days, Auburn in 1985 and Arkansas in 2000.

"I'm not sure what other motivation you need than the automatic bid that lies at the end of that fourth game," senior co-captain David Bliss said. "That's something that for me, and I'm sure everybody, has been a goal since Day One. We're not there yet, so we've still got work to do."

Arkansas (22-10) defeated East No. 1 seed and No. 4-ranked Tennessee 92-91 in the most closely contested SEC tournament in years.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs might well have saved their coaches' jobs over the weekend. Athletics director Damon Evans had put Felton on notice that his program was being evaluated "in totality" at the end of the season.

Now that season extends another day, and that evaluation looks a whole lot better.

"I'm just busting at the seams with pride right now," said Felton, who is now 74-79 in five seasons as the Bulldogs' coach. "It makes it even more special to do it under extreme circumstances."

And there were plenty of those. In addition to becoming the first SEC team in 56 years to play two games in one day -- LSU was the last in 1952 -- the Bulldogs played them with only eight scholarship players and finished neither with star point guard Sundiata Gaines.

Gaines fouled out of the overtime game against Kentucky with 1:33 left in regulation and was disqualified from the semifinals with 7:18 to play. To top it off Gaines had to be carried off the court after suffering a hip-pointer on a charge in the late game.

But afterward, he not only declared himself healthy enough to play in the championship game, he vowed to finish it.

"The way my teammates picked me up make winning those two games even better," said Gaines, who had 36 points in Saturday's two games and in the tournament. "But I'm going to finish this next one."

Gaines' backup Zac Swansey was the hero of the 60-56 overtime win over Kentucky, and Billy Humphrey was the closer in the nightcap.

Humphrey, who had struggled on offense to that point, staked Georgia to its last two leads against State, the second a step-back 18-foot jumper that made the score 61-60.

Swansey made a spin-and-shoot 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left against the Wildcats.

"I told Yata I was going to find a way for him to play another game," Swansey said. "I wasn't going to let his career end like that with him fouling up and us losing. He thanked me and told me he loved me afterwards."

After Humphrey made his 18-footer with 1:21 remaining, and Mississippi State never scored another point. The visitors instead missed four shots and committed a technical foul. The Dogs made just enough of their free throws -- 3 of 6 -- to make it stand up.

Felton didn't agree with the path the Dogs had to take to the finals. He "objected vehemently" to the SEC's reconfigured format that required them to play twice in one day against an opponent that was playing only once.

These games were originally supposed to be played Friday night at the Georgia Dome but were moved to Georgia Tech because of storm damage the Dome incurred Friday night. SEC officials and administrators from the five schools still competing met into the wee hours Saturday morning to decide how to proceed with the tournament.

Felton did not like their solution, which was for the winner of the Georgia-Kentucky game to play a second game late Saturday against a Mississippi State team (22-10) that advanced to the semifinals Friday night.

"I very, very respectfully take great exception to the decision to make a team play two games in a [day] when the games are so important," Felton said in a press conference after the win over Kentucky. "I think everybody understands that this tournament is our only chance to make it to the national tournament. And I can't help but feel that when that decision was made they made it knowing well they were basically eliminating our chances of winning the tournament."

The last SEC team to play two games in a day was LSU, which played twice in the semifinals of the 1952 SEC tournament. That was how the schedule was set up then, the last year of the tournament before renewal in 1979.

In the quarterfinal game played earlier Saturday, Swansey nailed a desperation 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime to knockoff Kentucky 60-56. Swansey was subbing for Gaines, Georgia's senior co-captain, who had fouled out with 16 points with 1:33 left in regulation.

Georgia had never beaten Kentucky in the SEC tournament. It came in 0-8 against the Wildcats in this event.

The victory might have also knocked the Wildcats (18-12) out of an NCAA Tournament bid.

Kentucky's Joe Crawford led all scorers with 24 points. Terrance Woodbury led the Bulldogs with 17. Swansey had five, all in overtime.