The Louisville men’s basketball program will wear 1985-86 throwback uniforms during its Louisville Live tipoff event at Churchill Downs on Saturday evening.
The annual preseason event, which has been dubbed “Downs After Dark: Horses and Hoops,” will be staged amid an evening of thoroughbred horse racing. Members of the 1986 national championship team will be in attendance, signing autographs as the current Cardinals take the court.
With that, Louisville will wear uniforms that are reminiscent of what that team wore, with a black wordmark and numbers outlined in red on a white jersey. There’s also a traditional striping pattern on the collar, waistband and bottom of the shorts, as well as a the Cardinals’ “Dunking Bird” logo on the sides.
Louisville has worn similar throwback uniforms in the past, including against Duke in 2015 and Syracuse in 2018.
The Cardinals won their second national title in 1985-86, knocking off the Blue Devils, 72-69, at Reunion Arena in Dallas. Last season marked the 35th anniversary of the run to the title, but the program was unable to hold an on-court celebration due to the pandemic.
As for the event, a portable court will be place on the plaza inside Gate 1 at Churchill Downs. Gates open at 5 p.m., the first horse race starts at 6 p.m. and the basketball festivities begin at 7:15 p.m.
Photo courtesy of @Bigticket_sc on Twitter.
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