ATLANTA — In which state am I sitting?
I ask because there was nothing “Georgia” about the Georgia Dome tonight.
Minutes before the opening tip of Thursday’s final first-round SEC tournament game, I emerged from the tunnel and saw a nice section of fans wearing red along one side of the Dome.
Minutes after the opening tip, though, I realized a majority of them were Ole Miss fans.
Yep.
Ole Miss.
As disappointing as Georgia has been the past few years, you’d think more than a few dozen Dogs fans would roll down the highway and support their team in a winnable SEC tournament game. I’d think that, any way. And I’d be wrong.
What a great game they missed, too. The Bulldogs blew a double-digit, second-half lead before ultimately prevailing, 97-95 in overtime. Senior center Dave Bliss banked in the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left.
And most of the fans in red went home unhappy.
True, Ole Miss won 76-62 at Georgia on Saturday. True, the Bulldogs aren’t likely to win this tournament. True, even single-session tickets to this tournament aren’t cheap by most people’s standards.
But this wasn’t Kentucky, Tennessee or Arkansas. It was Ole Miss, which isn’t known for tearing up the turnstile counts this time of year.
The glaring lack of UGA supporters was most noticeable early in the second half, when the Bulldogs went on a big run that gave them enough cushion to hold off a late Rebels rally — which, unlike the UGA spurt, caused noise.
Georgia will play Kentucky in a Friday night quarterfinal. Imagine what the Dome will look like when Big Blue Nation turns it into “Catlanta” Version 2008? The Bulldogs will play a road game in their own backyard.
It won’t be the first time, and it probably won’t be the last.
Twitter - @wesrucker Facebook - /tfpvolsbeat
