March Madness In The SEC: A.K.A The Wildat Invitational

After Kentucky dismantles Florida in a few hours, the SEC will descend upon Nashville for the SEC Tournament.  For those of you who've never been to the SEC Tournament, here is a preview. Or maybe a post-view.

Rewind one year. Tampa, Fla: scene of last year's SEC Tournament.  I arrive at the St. Pete Times Forum in time for Game 1.  Ole Miss vs. Kentucky.  The parking lot is a sea of blue.  So much so, it looks like a Kentucky home game.

There are UK tailgate parties going on.  Lexington radio stations are doing live broadcasts. Huge UK flags are waving everywhere.  Where is everybody else?

Inside the arena is blue everywhere.  The place is half empty, the full seats are 80 percent UK fans.  Maybe 90 percent. This is for a UK team that is struggling.  The coach is under fire.  UK is going to the NIT unless it wins the tournament.  Yet, the fans are still there. And they are fired up.

The Kats beat Ole Miss to advance to Friday's early game.  Most of the fans leave.  But wait.  There are three more games to be played today.  No matter. The UK game is over.  See ya tomorrow.

So for the next two games, I can sit anywhere I want.  The place is about 1/4 full.

Game 4 is Arkansas vs. Florida.  The place fills up again. The Gator fans have finally showed up.  You know there were three games played today already right?  Yeah but the Gators weren't in them.

This is life in the football mad SEC.  Basketball is second fiddle in this conference. Other than UK fans, the rest would not go out of their way to attend.  The only reason Gator fans showed up for the late game is because it was in Tampa.  This year you'll be able to count them on your fingers and toes.

Oh you'll get some Vanderbilt and Tennessee fans to show up this year.  But with UK the odds on favorite again like the old days, blue will be everywhere.  And it will be there for all four days.

It's a shame really.  I love football as much as anyone.  But once football is over, I am all about basketball.  I don't see why the rest of the SEC fans can't seem to get into it.  It's a lot of fun, the SEC Tournament.  I watched eight basketball games in two days.  What other sport can you do that?

Basketball has made great strides in the SEC. On the court, the conference can match up with just about any other.  No longer is it always Kentucky and the Eleven Dwarfs. Florida has hung two National Championship Banners in the rafters of the O'Connell Center. Arkansas has one in Bud Walton arena.

Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, and LSU all have made other trips to the Final Four since the mid 90's.  Tennessee and Vanderbilt have become players on the national landscape.  But somehow the fans just haven't caught up.

These same fans will travel to a bowl game in droves.  Even a minor bowl game will get tens of thousands of fans from whichever SEC school is playing.  Why can't a thousand show up for the SEC Tournament?  If every school sent a thousand fans, that's 11,000 besides what UK sends.  That's enough to pack any basketball gym in the south.

Someday I hope the fans in the SEC will catch on.  But until then, here's to Spring Football practice. Cheers.