Rupp Arena banner to honor Duke's four-game losing streak

Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart announced Sunday night that the school plans to recognize Duke’s four-game losing streak by unveiling a banner before their next home game against LSU on February 20. The banner, to read “Duke / Four-Game Losing Streak / 2007”, will be placed immediately to the right of the banner honoring revered coach Rick Pitino.

Kentucky's peach basket-era championship banners will finally get a little dusting.

"We know our fans are a little disheartened with the lopsided loss on Saturday after they successfully spelled C-A-T-S using alternating white t-shirts,” said Barnhart, still trying to tout the accomplishments of his program’s non-revenue teams. “But Kentucky fans are the best fans in the country when it comes to hating Duke, criticizing them when they’re down, and then acting like Duke fans actually care about Kentucky. We always knew the gloat they received after that one player made that one shot in that one game in 1992 would come back and haunt them.

"Duke's four-game losing streak will always have a special place in Kentucky basketball history. We just felt like we couldn't waste any time in honoring it."

Barnhart continued that there were other reasons for the banner as well.

"Not only is it great for the fans, it’s also a practical issue. While we’re up there, we’re going to dust off all of those pre-1960 banners. We realize it’s been tough for fans to read those blurred banners in recent years.”

One Kentucky fan is looking forward to the banner ceremony, and wasn’t reserved in his opinion of embattled Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

“If I were Duke, I’d sure as hell fire that Coach K,” said Wildcats’ fan Bobby Turley, 53. “He ain’t done a damn thing for ‘em lately, and he just ain’t gettin’ them white boys ready to play. It almost looks like they're scared to jump or somethin'.”