re: No fan base travels like Kentucky basketball.

It's not just that they travel well (though they always do) it's that they're very, very, spread out. The Cats are a home team in several states due to the size of BBN which is immense.

Also, UK football fans though smaller in number and less sidewalky travel well to places like Knoxville and always have. Indy is close enough to where they'd have a huge crowd even without the enormous size of the basketball-only BBN fans.

I think a lot of folks forget UK basketball is a national brand. The Lady Vols are as well. And the reach of both is far beyond the fans normally generated even by great teams.