NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Kentucky was in the process of running through Auburn, a team without two of its better players and playing its fourth game in four days, and the street famous for its bars that feature aspiring country music performers was almost a sea of blue.
Intermittent showers did nothing to wash away the Wildcat Nation on Broadway. Many fans showed their loyalty by just being in the same town as their team, even though they may not have had tickets to the game.
That's one of the main reasons the SEC Tournament has been called the Kentucky Invitational.
For three or four days, this beautiful city basically could have been Lexington, Ky.
The Wildcats will play for their 29th SEC Tournament championship today, and to put that in perspective the team with the second-most titles is Alabama with six.
Georgia certainly came out against Arkansas in the other semifinal Saturday playing as if it wanted no part of Kentucky. The Bulldogs shot 28 percent from the floor (7 of 25) and 37.5 percent from the free-throw line (3 of 8) in the first half.
Some of that was because of Arkansas' defense, but the Bulldogs missed inside and out. On one trip, they missed five consecutive shots.
The Razorbacks struggled, too, as their leading scorer and the SEC's most valuable player, Bobby Portis, was scoreless in the opening half when he missed all six of his field-goal attempts.
Portis had a rare bad day shooting, finishing 1 of 14, but the sophomore pulled down 12 rebounds
The Hogs shot 10 of 30 from the floor and led 25-17 at the break, and if a break was ever needed it was in the game Saturday.
For some reason -- maybe to get their money's worth -- Kentucky's fans stayed to watch the Georgia-Arkansas game. No doubt some thought they were scouting.
At the half, they had to be asking who the heck was Nick Babb. At that point, the lightly used freshman guard was Arkansas' second-leading scorer with five points, and he got that in five minutes.
Whatever Georgia did to itself in the first half, the Hogs caused similar problems for it in the second half.
They clamped down on defense, and the Bulldogs struggled again from all over the floor.
The Razorbacks went on one of their runs in the second half, this one 15-3, to take a 44-25 lead. That sent a lot of the Kentucky fans to the exits, but Razorbacks Nation stayed until the final buzzer enjoying the rebirth of its basketball program.
They saw Georgia warm up for a few minutes and close it to nine points, but the Hogs' defense tightened and Arkansas won 60-49.
The Razorbacks were helped by 23 points from their bench, but the key for the Hogs is always defense first, and in the second half they were focused on slowing Georgia, which was held to 16 field goals.
Now they take on the No. 1 team in the country, the undefeated Wildcats, who are already assured of being the overall No. 1 seed when the NCAA Tournament field is announced today.
The SEC couldn't have asked for a better final, No. 1 seed Kentucky vs. No. 2 seed Arkansas.
When the Razorbacks joined the SEC, they shocked the Big Blue Nation with their style of play and their attendance at the SEC Tournament. The games were so hotly contested that the regular-season game used to be part of Super Bowl Sunday.
While anything can happen, the Razorbacks lost handily to the Wildcats in their only meeting this season, and it wasn't as close as the 84-67 score indicated. The Hogs trailed by 31 in the second half.
Yet, Arkansas played Saturday like it wanted to be in the championship game against the country's best basketball team, the Kentucky Wildcats, and this isn't a neutral site.
This is Lexington South.
Sports on 03/15/2015