City: Cincinnati, OH

Category: Spectator Sports

Telephone: (859) 257-1818

Description: The neighboring state school to the south, the University of Kentucky, barely missed making it to the Final Four in 1999, after winning the national championship in 1996 and 1998. It hasn’t been as successful since then, but people from all over Kentucky still drive to watch the Wildcats play basketball at Rupp Arena. The loyal fan base trickles over a little bit into Ohio, although there seems to be a rivalry between fans of Ohio sports teams and those who support Kentucky. Local sports talk show callers often badmouth Kentucky fans and anything said about Kentucky can quickly flood the phone lines with defensive Big Blue supporters. It takes good connections or a friendly scalper to get a ticket to Rupp Arena for a Wildcats game. To try, though, call the number above.The UK football team also is finding its own again. It revived some national attention when the Wildcats went to the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida, in 1998. Tim Couch, the quarterback on the team, was the top draft pick in the NFL draft in 1999. In 2007, the team beat top-ranked LSU and beat Florida State in the Music City Bowl.