NASHVILLE — Hi, hello and welcome, Wildcats fans, from the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena.

I just arrived and settled in on press row a few moments ago after the drive down Interstate-65 this morning. I’m courtside to watch the first game of the tournament between South Carolina and Alabama.

The winner will play UK on Friday at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT), and apparently I’m not the only here to scout this game as thousands of Big Blue fans have already packed the Music City.

I went outside to snap a few pictures for the blog and saw more UK fans entering the arena for the USC-Alabama game than the two teams playing. Inside the numbers are a little more even, but it’s still pretty clear from the streets of Nashville that Kentucky has by far the most fans here, as to be expected. Must also mention that there is quite a bit of Tennessee orange in the stands as well.

Head coach John Calipari and his team are sitting in the end zone behind one of the goals and taking in the game as well (presumably scouting for Friday’s winner). Believe it or not, the loudest cheer of this first-round game so far came when the videoboard showed some of the Cats.

Need I say more about the power of Big Blue Nation?

Anyway, I’m going to watch the rest of this game and should have something small later this afternoon on UK’s opponent. Stay tuned.