Hundreds of basketball fans came to Georgia Tech?s Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, SEC tournament tickets in hand, only to get turned away. They weren?t happy about it.

Those who lingered outside the gates, hoping to get in somehow, some way, grew even angrier when friends watching TV back home told them the 9,191-seat arena was more than half empty. Official attendance for Georgia's quarterfinal game against Kentucky: 1,458.

SEC officials decided to allow in only players' family members and close friends, cheerleaders, bands, credentialed reporters and officials, and approximately 400 fans per participating school. Far fewer than 400 Georgia fans got in, and Kentuckians outnumbered them at least 3-to-1.

But there were also a lot more Kentucky fans than Georgia fans who didn't get in. Overall, more than 20,000 people held tickets for the wind-damaged Georgia Dome, the tournament's original site, and there was far from enough room to accommodate them all. Still, those waiting outside Tech's coliseum pointed out there would have been plenty of room for them.

"Come Monday I will be filing in Fayette (Ky.) Circuit Court a class action suit against the Georgia Dome," said Kentucky fan Stephen Gray McFayden of Lexington. "I'm going to be seeing who I can sue and for what.

"All they need to do to fix the situation is to honor the tickets. There's plenty of seats in there."

Kentucky fans were hit hardest; their team was the only one that hadn't played a game in this year's tournament before the weather hit Friday night. They had driven 10 to 12 hours to Atlanta and faced the prospect of making the return trip without having seen a single Kentucky basket.

SEC officials said no ticket refund decision had been made. Fans said even a full face-value refund (single-session tickets were $45) would be small consolation for fans who had spent hundreds of dollars on gas, food and lodging.

"Why should I be out that money," said Trudy Noble of Carrollton, Ky., who made the trip with her fiance and his parents. "The Georgia Dome insurance ought to pay me back.

"There ain't enough money in the world to pay me back for how scared I was in that Georgia Dome. I thought the building was going to fall down."

Others were more understanding.

"It was an unforeseen issue, so I think they've done pretty well," said Auburn fan Mark Baker of Nashville. His friend, Seth Ary of Florence, Ala., had hoped to get in to cheer for Georgia. Not only were they locked out; they were locked out at rival Georgia Tech.

"It's horrible. It's irony," Ary said.

John Hall of Louisville said he was the first person in line at 7:45 a.m. More than four hours later, he was still waiting and hoping for a way to see his Wildcats. He was so upset he said he was thinking of changing loyalties.

"I may have to turn to Louisville," he said. "I don't know."

Tennessee fans Wes Barbour and Parker Seabolt of Bristol, Tenn., had particularly bad timing. They bought tickets online for $65 apiece at 7 p.m. Friday, arrived in Atlanta at 3 a.m. and got turned away from Alexander Memorial Coliseum eight hours later.

"It's understandable why they moved [the tournament]," Seabolt said. "It's still disappointing."

They'll get some consolation today, though. They already had tickets for the NASCAR race in their hometown.

The forecast: 51 degrees, no storms.