SEC Tournament Wednesday Night Notes From Tampa

Tampa’s Amalie Arena played host as the SEC Tournament welcomed fans back to its Wednesday night session for the first time in two years. It was on this night in Nashville in 2020 when the world began to shut down for COVID. The following morning, the SEC canceled the remainder of the tournament before the first Thursday session tipped off. Only two tournament games were played before we all went home without the slightest clue of what was ahead.

Then last year, some fans were allowed in the return of the conference tournament but only in a very limited capacity. For Kentucky’s purposes, excitement was at an all-time low as the nine-win Wildcats lost as the No. 8 seed to No. 9 seed Mississippi State. Sorry for bringing that up.

This year, however, the SEC Tournament is back to full speed and at a new location on Tampa’s waterfront. The fanfare is back, Kentucky Basketball is back, and the Wednesday night session fun is back too.

Here are some notes from the scene:

Blue Got In

No surprise here: blue was the dominant color throughout the crowd in the Wednesday night session, two nights before Kentucky Basketball plays its first game. There were no blue teams on the court in either of the two opening games, but the crowd brought enough blue for everyone. There were even a few CATS chants from the fans eager to be back on their favorite vacation.

As the singing of the National Anthem concludes before Missouri and Ole Miss play the first game of the SEC Tournament, a fan yells, "Let's go, Cats!"

— Jerry Tipton (@JerryTipton) March 9, 2022

It’s good to see BBN back in its natural habitat.

Missouri and Ole Miss got the party started

Cuonzo Martin’s Mizzou Tigers are on to the second round after earning a win over Ole Miss in the leadoff game. I’d love to tell you all about the action but I spent the first 45 minutes of the game wandering aimlessly around the arena because I got lost.

Good for Mizzou though. Maybe the Tigers can knock off Will Wade’s LSU Tigers in the second game on Day 2.

Georgia fans excited for Tom Crean’s last ride

On Tuesday, the University of Georgia announced it will part ways with Tom Crean at the end of the SEC Tournament. Wednesday night, some of the UGA faithful showed their support of the outgoing coach by wearing brown Food Lion bags over their heads in prime end zone seating.

Crean’s last ride was embarrassing

It’s still in progress, but the Dawgs are down 36 points to Vanderbilt after a 14-point first half.

Tennessee Fans of the Day (this one time)

We don’t salute Tennessee fans on this website, but I’ll make an exception after meeting these gentlemen while in line for official SEC Tournament merchandise. What can I say, the shiny gold hat won me over.

Nice guys. I hope their team loses Saturday, if not sooner.

Wednesday Night’s Arena Dinner: PDQ Chicken

While doing my laps around the Amalie Arena concourse looking for where I was supposed to be, I took in all of the food options. PDQ (short for “People Dedicated to Quality”) was the winner because it had the shortest line and I hadn’t eaten in 24 hours.

I think I accidentally stumbled into a winner.

Rating: 8.1/10… great sandwich.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll try the Outback Express, the Holy Hog BBQ, or the Italian meat counter. Amalie Arena has great food options.

How many days until someone falls through this SEC Tournament sand castle?

Just a hunch, Ryan Lemond will stick a finger in it when he gets here tomorrow.

More photos from Tampa’s first SEC Tournament since Billy G’s last season:

We’ll be back tomorrow with LOTS more from the first full day of action.

If you’re down here, find me at the arena to be one of KSR’s Justice Dental Smiles of the Day.