Colonel-Journal

The state of Kentucky has been long revered as a leader in basketball culture.  Teams have been supported with a near cult like following while the state as a whole has been a powerful source of dominating teams.  The Universities of Kentucky and Louisville (regardless of the side you are on) have been consistent leaders in the sport.  A combined 11 NCAA national championships have been awarded to these teams with wins in 2012 and 2013 with University of Kentucky being a runner up in 2014.

These championships ignited riots of excitement in each respective town.  Couches were burned, cars were flipped, and people were arrested all in a celebratory fashion as each school achieved the title of champion.  To see a short clip of this “chaos” follow this link:

Their most recent match up on December 27^th, 2014 post a 2.1 overnight rating according to ESPN2.  This would place the matchup as being the highest rated college basketball game ever on the network.

This one statistic is a powerful example of the support that basketball in the state of Kentucky receives.  Our teams are good, our players are good, are fans or excellent, passionate, and excited about the sport.

There are currently 20 players in the NBA from these two universities.  Kenneth Faried, a ruthless rebounder currently holding an NCAA record in rebounding, came from another program in Kentucky by the name of Morehead State.

With the passion and excitement that fills every Kentuckian about the game of basketball we should be granted the right to cheer on these players on a bigger stage, in a bigger arena, with an NBA team.