Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

SEC Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom said early Saturday morning that the league expected no more than about 2,000 fans to attend each of the concluding sessions of the league’s post-season tournament.

The small attendance is due to the event being moved to Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

A tornado Friday night did untold damage to the Georgia Dome. Rather than run the risk of playing in the Georgia Dome, SEC officials decided to move the event to nearby Georgia Tech.

In a statement released to the media around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, the league said attendance would be limited to players’ family members, cheerleaders, bands and other credentialed individuals. Georgia Tech’s on-campus gym seats 1,919.

Bloom acknowledged that the winner of the Kentucky-Georgia quarter-final game, which will be played at noon, will face a disadvantage in the semifinals. The opponent will have not played since the 7:30 p.m. tipoff on Friday.

Neither Kentucky nor Georgia objected to the revised schedule calling for two games on Saturday, Bloom said.

The league moved Sunday’s championship game from the original 1 p.m. tip to 3 p.m. in order to give more rest to the winner of the late Saturday semifinal.

The revised format means most Kentucky fans who bought tickets will not see UK play. Bloom said the league was working on a way to refund fans.

Bloom acknowledged that some fans might be upset.

“We’re hopeful that fans will realize what happened tonight,” Bloom said. “I know there will be some frustrated fans. I know passions are high with SEC basketball fans. But we had a significant event.”