Although the SEC is widely considered a football conference, few fan bases in any sport are as passionate as those who cheer on Kentucky basketball.

There’s a discernible line between passion and insanity, however, and it’s one that several Wildcats’ fans crossed earlier this year. Following a close, 75-73, loss to North Carolina in the South Region final of the NCAA Tournament, a game that included several questionable calls against both teams, Kentucky fans found the Facebook page of referee John Higgins’ business and made their feelings known.

The messages to Higgins quickly went from frustrated to felonious, however, as the referee began to receive emails, phone calls and voice mails that threatened his and his family’s lives.

Following a lengthy investigation, Nebraska prosecutors identified seven individuals who made threats against Higgins, according to a report by the Associated Press.

“Based on the investigation’s findings, our office has determined that no local charges will be filed and that pursuit of any criminal charges would be best served by deferring to authorities in the appropriate jurisdictions,” Polikov said in a statement to the Associated Press. “The length of the investigation was drawn out due, in part, to the large volume of potential evidence requiring analysis and the multi-jurisdictional issues arising from the multiple states in which the communications originated.”

According to the report, Higgins’ office received about 3,000 phone calls in the two days that followed the loss. Investigators estimated that approximately 75 percent of those calls came from Kentucky area codes. In addition to these calls, Higgins’ business was bombarded with negative reviews and he was forced to take down his Facebook page due to the onslaught.

The prosecutors have turned over the information of those identified to the authorities in their jurisdictions and to the FBI’s Omaha field office.