I know it seems hard to believe, but UofL's movement from being America's first municipal owned university to a state-affiliated research university with a full complement of professional schools has been marked by a *rise*in ranking to USN&WR #165, with greater ambitions. Increased emphasis on football was likely a vehicle to increase exposure and acquire support for the institution. Massive state financial commitment and basketball fueled similar ambitions for UConn, and Conference Realignment has had a huge impact with things continuing to be unsettled. However they did it, UofL out maneuvered UConn, but things are precarious through higher education and big-time college sports.
The Universities bearing the names of Buffalo, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, as well as Temple, had to endure dashed hopes in earlier times when they could not maintain private status. Miami, Southern Cal, George Washington, Northeastern, and NY has dramatically raised their profiles by leveraging their locations in desirable urban metropolises. Louisville, Memphis, and Houston are playing catchup. Over the same span of time UConn, Florida, Georgia come immediately to mind as schools less favored 40-50 years ago, but now seen quite differently.
Time will tell whether the adage, "The only bad publicity is no publicity" will apply to Louisville. Things look pretty bad right now from many angles, but they are a civic presence in a surprisingly interesting and growing city.