SAN DIEGO — The arena for the first-round NCAA men's tournament game between Alabama and Marquette was temporarily evacuated Thursday after bomb-sniffing dogs found a suspicious package about two hours before tipoff.

The dogs detected the package inside a 4-by-6-inch condiment container in a vendor cart outside Cox Arena at San Diego State University.

Spectators were allowed to return shortly after the evacuation.

A bomb robot wassent to the scene, FBI spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said, but found no threat in the condiments.

Fans and officials were told to gather behind a parking structure across the street. They were allowed to return about two hours later.

Players and staff from Alabama and Marquette stayed at their hotels.

The FBI warned last week of a recent Internet posting discussing terrorists attacks aimed at college basketball arenas and other sports stadiums, but also said there were no specific or credible threats.

Authorities were alerted at 9:18 a.m., before the scheduled 10 a.m. opening of the arena, and evacuated a "handful" of vendors who were inside, said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.