For many basketball fans throughout southern Illinois, tonight’s season opener at Kentucky will have special meaning as the SIU Salukis open 2018-19 with a different kind of “home game” at historic Rupp Arena.
Located approximately 300 miles from Lexington, the Carbondale (IL) campus sits in the heart of a southern Illinois region that has a proud history as an extended part of the Big Blue Nation.
Cheering on the Cats in southern Illinois makes perfect sense when you consider that the Ohio River is the only thing that separates Metropolis (IL), the Home of Superman, and Paducah (KY), which serves as the local NBC TV affiliate throughout southernmost Illinois.