Rupp Arena is home to the greatest tradition in all of college basketball. One great Kentucky basketball tradition has gone by the wayside, but may return in the future.
Beginning with the 1958 National Championship, Kentucky played 78 games at Freedom Hall. You will be surprised to learn that only 13 of those contests were against Louisville.
For five decades, Kentucky played at least one basketball game a year in the state’s largest city. Notre Dame and Indiana were the two most common opponents for these neutral-site games. Tickets are hard to come by to see the Wildcats at Rupp Arena. The games in Louisville gave fans another opportunity to see their favorite team in person.
In 2003, I received an unforgettable Christmas present, tickets five rows from the floor to watch the Wildcats play Austin Peay. I didn’t care who the opponent was. Seeing a Kentucky basketball game from that close to the floor?!?! It was a dream come true. Even though few probably recall the 61-53 win, watching 7-foot-6 Shagari Alleyne miss a dunk because he jumped too high is a cornerstone memory.
Those games went by the wayside, but Kentucky basketball fans in the Louisville area may soon get to share a similar experience.
Once the Yum Center was constructed, Tom Jurich and the Louisville brass put measures in place to prevent Kentucky from playing “home games” at the home of Louisville basketball. During a conversation on Kentucky Sports Radio, Mayor Craig Greenberg welcomed the Wildcats to Downtown Louisville.
“Absolutely. That’d be great for our city. That’d be great for our state,” he said. “I’m all for it.”
Kenny Payne nearly tanked the Downtown Louisville economy. Fans quit showing up to games. The state’s largest city needs events to draw people Downtown, and Kentucky basketball could provide that.
“There are 20+ games a year at the Yum Center. If you have 20,000 people coming downtown versus 8,000, that’s a big difference for all of the restaurants and bars that are downtown. When our women’s team is doing well also, that helps tremendously… It’s critical to the success of downtown Louisville and it just makes people feel better,” said Greenberg.
Greenberg Wants to Officially Restore the Louisville Banner
Louisville fans will tell you that they don’t care that the NCAA took away their 2013 National Championship banner. Then they hung a “No. 1 Final Coaches Poll” banner, and have spent almost every waking moment arguing that the real one should be restored.
Greenberg brought the 2013 National Championship banner to City Hall and described it as his most popular moment as the Mayor. As the landscape around college sports has changed, he feels it’s time to officially restore it inside the Yum Center.
“There are calls for me to formally restore the 2013 National Championship banner. I would like to see it happen. I don’t know what’s going on with the NCAA these days, but if I can help lead the charge, I’m going to, so we’re looking into that,” said the Louisville Mayor.
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