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. <\/p>\n
Beginning with the 1958 National Championship, Kentucky played 78 games at Freedom Hall<\/a>. You will be surprised to learn that only 13 of those contests were against Louisville. <\/p>\n For five decades, Kentucky played at least one basketball game a year in the state\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n In 2003, I received an unforgettable Christmas present, tickets five rows from the floor to watch the Wildcats play Austin Peay. I didn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n Those games went by the wayside, but Kentucky basketball fans in the Louisville area may soon get to share a similar experience. <\/p>\n Once the Yum Center was constructed, Tom Jurich and the Louisville brass put measures in place to prevent Kentucky from playing \u201chome games\u201d at the home of Louisville basketball. During a conversation on Kentucky Sports Radio<\/a>, Mayor Craig Greenberg welcomed the Wildcats to Downtown Louisville. <\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely. That\u2019d be great for our city. That\u2019d be great for our state,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m all for it.\u201d <\/p>\n Kenny Payne nearly tanked the Downtown Louisville economy. Fans quit showing up to games. The state\u2019s largest city needs events to draw people Downtown, and Kentucky basketball could provide that. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are 20+ games a year at the Yum Center. If you have 20,000 people coming downtown versus 8,000, that\u2019s a big difference for all of the restaurants and bars that are downtown. When our women\u2019s team is doing well also, that helps tremendously\u2026 It\u2019s critical to the success of downtown Louisville and it just makes people feel better,\u201d said Greenberg. <\/p>\n Greenberg Wants to Officially Restore the Louisville Banner <\/p>\n Louisville fans will tell you that they don\u2019t care that the NCAA took away their 2013 National Championship banner. Then they hung a \u201cNo. 1 Final Coaches Poll\u201d banner, and have spent almost every waking moment arguing that the real one should be restored. <\/p>\n 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\u2019s time to officially restore it inside the Yum Center. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are calls for me to formally restore the 2013 National Championship banner. I would like to see it happen. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on with the NCAA these days, but if I can help lead the charge, I\u2019m going to, so we\u2019re looking into that,\u201d said the Louisville Mayor. <\/p>\n