RUPP ARENA, Ky. -- Downtown Lexington is always covered in evidence that most basketball fans here bleed blue. But the blue neon was mixing with a bright shade of red today, as one of the Kentucky teams who actually made the tournament prepared to play.

"I work at UK but I am a die-hard Cardinal, a lifelong Cardinal, and I'm so excited to be here at Rupp Arena and paint it red," said Louisville fan Linda Peel.

Peel says she's the token Louisville fan at her work.

Just across the food court at Rupp Arena, a couple of Louisville fans were picking up some true-blue shirts.

"We're a family of five and one of us bleeds blue," one parent told us. "That's our little one Keaton."

"He obviously got hit on the head as a baby, that's all we can figure," the other Cardinals fan said.

Louisville fans weren't the only ones in town. And despite the freezing temperatures some of those fans wore shorts just like their favorite players.

"It doesn't matter, pride transcends weather," one fan said.

There were even fans so excited they held their tickets in the air for all to see, sometimes for hours.

"It's wonderful because I never see red anywhere here so I feel like my people have come," said a Cardinals fan. "I'm excited to see the sea of red and black in those blue seats."