Kentucky eyes return to Indianapolis for Final Four: "That's the goal."

Indianapolis has been where Big Blue Dreams have gone to die in recent years, Kentucky losing five straight in the city dating back to 2018. That run features the 118-84 blowout loss to Duke in ’18, the COVID game against Kansas in the Champions Classic in ’20, Saint Peter’s in ’22, the double-overtime loss to Michigan State in ’22, and most recently, the 78-65 loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16 to end Mark Pope‘s first season as head coach.

Lucas Oil Stadium was also the home to the 38-1 game in 2015, the Wildcats watching their undefeated streak come to an end in devastating fashion. We’ve seen some good moments — Aaron Harrison’s game-winners against Louisville and Michigan came in that building — but the lows have undoubtedly outweighed the highs as of late.

It’d be understandable for some fans to vow never to return, but for Kentucky, the Wildcats have no choice but to face those demons head-on. If they’re going to hang banner No. 9 in 2025-26, they’ll have to do it back at the scene of the crime at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. That’s the home of the 2026 Final Four, scheduled for April 4 and 6.

Now, Pope, along with his staff and players, did an immaculate job staying in the moment in year one, treating Wright State or Bucknell the same way they treated Duke or Louisville.

“Coach has been preaching — even before this game — the game we’re about to play is the most important game of our lives. We’re in the moment, be where your feet are,” Otega Oweh said last November. “You just don’t want to look ahead and prepare the same for every game so you don’t get too high or too low.”

That remained true from start to finish, taking care of business in the smallest games on paper just as much as the biggest. It was an approach that clearly worked with the Wildcats tying an all-time NCAA record for most top-15 victories in a season with eight.

None of it was lip service, either. What you heard publicly was how the team treated game preparation behind the scenes.

“I think Coach Pope is — more than anybody I’ve ever been around, he talks about the biggest game is always the next game,” UK associate head coach Alvin Brooks III told KSR on the Sources Say Podcast. “He actually expresses that a lot to our guys. If it was (one game they were more invested in than another), he never showed it to us. He really treated every game like it was the biggest game of the year.”

The goal was for his players to understand the value of winning at every step of the journey, no matter the competition or name on the opponent’s jersey. You wanted to win each game in comfortable fashion, obviously, but as long as you finished with more points than the other guy, you did your job.

Kentucky did its job 24 times last season — including 10 times in SEC play.

“He would say that to our guys no matter who we were playing or if people felt like we were expected to win by a certain amount, it didn’t matter to him. He always, as he called it, flipped the switch and made sure that that game was the biggest game. So for me, at the end of the day, it’s always going to say W on one side and L on the other side. We always want to be on the W side.

“So the biggest game is always getting the W.”

That’s where the conversation gets interesting for next season. All games are equal in terms of Nicholls and Valparaiso vs. Indiana and St. John’s in the non-conference or South Carolina and LSU vs. Alabama and Arkansas in the SEC, but it’s fair to say things change some in the NCAA Tournament — especially this NCAA Tournament.

When asked if there is anything specific he’s excited to be a part of in 2025-26 in terms of event or venue, things of that nature, Brooks didn’t shy away from circling something on his calendar.

In fact, he’s got it saved on his phone as a daily reminder as he prepares for the season.

“Yes,” he said bluntly, followed by a brief pause to gather his thoughts. “It’s actually — I’m excited for the opportunity to have a chance to compete again in Indianapolis. That’s the goal.”

Lucas Oil Stadium may not be the home to long-term devastation for Brooks like most Kentucky fans — he actually won a national championship there in 2021 as the associate head coach at Baylor under Scott Drew — but he was right there for the Tennessee loss back in March, heartbroken like the rest of us.

Knowing what it feels like to climb the ladder and cut down the nets in that building, he craves a return to Indianapolis to do it again wearing the blue and white next April.

“We lost there last year. I’ve been blessed to be a part of winning the national championship there in 2021. So I’ve already — I have the logo saved on my phone. That’s what — at the end of the day, that’s what I’m focused on.”

Quite the full-circle opportunity on the table.