So how many gator fans are in attendance at the SEC Tournament? Oh, maybe two dozen and most of them are related to the players on the field. One reason there are never any Gator fans at this event is because Gainesville is 7 1/2 hours away.

That’s why this second game feels like a road game. Oxford is three hours from Hoover and the rebel fans are making a lot of noise.

But the truth is that there wouldn’t be a lot of Gator fans in the crowd unless the tournament was in Gainesville. Florida fans travel for two things.

1 Football.

2. Ultra-successful teams in other sports.

And by that I mean men’s basketball in the second season of the back-to-backs. The Gator Nation likes to pride itself on its zeal but that passion tends to be revealed on couches across America and not in the stands around the Southeast.

We saw that with the embarrassing turnout for the SEC basketball tournament in Tampa. Sure, the economy can’t be blamed for some of it, but Gator fans are already checking out airline fares to Pasadena.

Because that’s about football.

The Gator Nation is everywhere, they say. So why isn’t it in Hoover?