During the first years of head coach John Calipari’s tenure in Lexington, one of his common reiterations was that UK was the “gold standard” of college basketball.

This “gold standard” meant that in terms of talent, accomplishments, fan dedication and even facilities, UK was the best of the best. And had Cats fans been asked at the time, they’d agree.

But the opening of the KFC Yum! Center has given the University of Louisville one of the premier venues in all of college basketball.

With its wide concourses, high-class dining and bars, and space to fit more than 22,000 fans, the new Louisville arena has dwarfed nearly everything that Rupp Arena has to offer.

For some, this may have been enough reason to expedite plans to renovate (or even replace) Rupp Arena, a facility that hasn’t seen significant upgrades since it opened in 1976.

The concourses are narrow, the scoreboard is grossly outdated and the concessions and bathrooms leave a lot to be desired. The Yum! Center is superior in nearly every facet, and the city of Lexington and UK had to take notice.

The city, however, said it has had renovations planned for several years.

“Our primary tenant is UK, and that lease runs out in 2018,” Lexington spokeswoman Susan Straub said. “We wanted to be ready for that. But more importantly, Rupp Arena is 35-something years old and needs to be renovated.”

Proposed renovations include a new high-definition scoreboard, luxury suites and chairback seats throughout the upper deck, to name a few. Straub said construction will begin sometime in 2015, most likely at the conclusion of next basketball season.

While the Yum! Center has impressed visitors in more than three seasons of operation, it is struggling with major financial problems. In short, the revenue projections for the arena have not come close to meeting the cost of bonds used to fund construction. Therefore, the city of Louisville could pay more than “$300 million over the life of the bonds,” according to Insider Louisville.

As those revenue streams continue to fall below the anticipated average, debt continues to rise.

It’s a messy situation, one that Cats’ fans are hoping their team can avoid.

While Lexington officials aren’t ready to speak on the financing, an announcement seems close. It would be difficult for the city to fall into the same problems that the Yum! Center is mired in, especially after Tuesday, when Lexington got some comforting news from Gov. Steve Beshear’s two-year state budget.

Beshear announced that he’s asking lawmakers for $65 million in bonds to go toward Rupp Arena’s renovations. Beshear also mentioned the total cost to renovate the arena and relocate the convention center is $310 million.

It’s a steep price tag, but government funds would make it more manageable and easier to avoid the crippling problems that now surround Louisville’s shining gem.

“We’ve learned from that example,” Straub said of Yum! Center’s financing. “We haven’t really talked about what our financial plan is … but we have identified several revenue streams.”

Rupp Arena could function as is for several more years, but UK couldn’t sit back while its archrival opened a more appealing venue on the banks of the Ohio River.

Whenever construction is completed, Rupp Arena will again be a state-of-the-art facility. It may not have every amenity that the Yum! Center brings, but it will combine functionality with tradition.

That’s a good combination for UK going forward, but one that may not have been achieved without some unintended motivation from its rival down the road.