Kentucky is almost synonymous with college basketball. And one of the premier college basketball venues in the United States is Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, home to the University of Kentucky Wildcats.

With an official seating capacity of 23,000, Rupp Arena can accommodate not only rabid Kentucky Wildcat fans (who set a Rupp Arena attendance record of 24,479 for the 2010 edition of the annual rivalry with Louisville), but also smaller sporting events and concerts. The venue has also hosted the 1985 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four.

UK Basketball Venues Before Rupp

Before the construction of Rupp Arena, Kentucky was like most NCAA men's programs in that they played their games on their home campus. Early homes for the Wildcats included gymnasiums inside Barker Hall and Buell Hall (both buildings which still exist on the University of Kentucky campus), and the subsequent success of the program led to the construction of Alumni Gymnasium, with a seating capacity of 2,800, in 1924.