Friday night’s tornado will give the SEC Tournament a new look. Here are a few leftover notes from the early-morning announcement Saturday of a change of venue: From the Georgia Dome to Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
– Record low attendance is all but assured. The existing record for low attendance is the 8,047 that attended the opening session of the 1996 SEC Tournament in New Orleans. Since Georgia Tech’s on-campus arena seats only 9,119, that record seems destined for the dust pan.
In a news release, the SEC said, “Out of respect for public safety demands that are required in the aftermath of Friday’s storms, access to the remaining games of the championship will be limited to student-athletes’ family members, cheerleaders, bands and other credentialed individuals.”
– Georgia Coach Dennis Felton made no secret of his desire to avoid two games in one day.
“Obviously, it’s not very fair to play two games in one day,” he said before saying such a scenario would cause “incredible stress.”
That’s just what the SEC did. It called for Kentucky to play Georgia at noon Saturday in a makeup for the 9:45 p.m. Friday night game postponed by the storm.
The Kentucky-Georgia winner will play Mississippi State at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
Felton called for a one-day delay in the tournament, which would include a championship game on Monday. That’s the day after Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament.
Tom O’Connor, the chairman of the Selection Committee, told SEC officials that its tournament had to end before the Selection Show on Sunday evening, the SEC said.
– SEC officials met with personnel from the Georgia Dome, UK, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi State, Raycon and CBS in deciding what to do. The meeting lasted about five hours.
Afterward, SEC Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom noted the cooperative spirit. That clashed with Felton voicing objections to two games in one day. There was also media speculation that UK Coach Billy Gillispie objected to the strain of two games in the same day.
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
This storm related misfortune for Kentucky should assure it an NCAA berth should it win the Georgia game today
Beware ~ The Ides of March
Once again, the unexpected happens on the anniversary of Caesar’s assassination. Kentucky gets to play Georgia, and by winning, gets to play a second game, the same day, against a well rested Mississippi State. Great. Just great. Thanks Brutus.