Mayor Craig Greenberg hangs banner honoring 2013 Louisville basketball team at Metro Hall

There will be no mention of a national title when University of Louisville honors the members of its men's basketball team that in 2013 brought the program's now-vacated third championship back to the 502 at halftime of the Cardinals' game against Clemson on Saturday night.

Mayor Craig Greenberg has taken matters into his own hands, however, to ensure the achievement won't be shrouded by NCAA red tape.

With 13 members of the 2012-13 team returning to Louisville for this weekend's 10th anniversary celebration, Greenberg on Friday morning had a replica 2013 NCAA championship banner hung at Metro Hall. Because the banner is hanging from a building that isn't owned by the university, it can stay for as long as Greenberg pleases.

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A similar banner, and another commemorating U of L's 2012 run to the Final Four, was removed from the KFC Yum! Center rafters after the program was ordered to vacate 123 wins between 2010-14 as punishment for a scandal involving payments made to strippers and prostitutes to dance for, and have sex with, former players and recruits.

The NCAA will have its eyes on Louisville this weekend when a new banner noting the team's No. 1 finish in the final 2013 coaches poll. Although that doesn't have quite the same ring to it as "national champs," its spot next to other reminders of the Cardinals' rich history represents progress for athletics director Josh Heird, who went back and forth with the NCAA to determine how to best honor the team while adhering to the organization's guidelines.

"Our former Cardinals and our devoted fans deserve to have our special season recognized in some manner in our home arena," Heird wrote in an email to fans Monday. "It remains a fact that this team had a remarkable season that none of us will ever forget."

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For years, fans have clamored to restore the 2013 championship and its commemorative banner. The conversation around the latter picked back up in November, when U of L avoided a postseason ban and other major punishments stemming from a long-running NCAA investigation into alleged violations under the watch of former coaches Rick Pitino and Chris Mack.

"We're going to do everything that we're allowed to do," Heird said in January. "Are we going to have some conversations about some things that we're allowed to do? Yes, we will do that from an NCAA standpoint."

Replacing the championship banner remains off the table. The one reading "2013 Final Coaches Poll #1" going up in its place is a milestone in its own right. The NCAA previously prohibited banners of that nature but granted Louisville permission to raise one as a statement of fact.

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Until 1990, universities were allowed to display banners, trophies, signs and mentions of vacated championships and other accomplishments. Because the rule was grandfathered in, some programs have been able to keep these reminders up. Western Kentucky still has a banner honoring its vacated run to the 1971 Final Four hanging at E.A. Diddle Arena, for example.

Louisville and Clemson tip off at 7 p.m. Saturday from the KFC Yum! Center. The former Cards who will be in attendance include: Mike Baffour, Logan Baumann, Wayne Blackshear, Jordan Bond, Gorgui Dieng, Luke Hancock, Montrezl Harrell, Tim Henderson, Mike Marra, Zach Price, Peyton Siva, Stephan Van Treese and Kevin Ware.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Mayor Craig Greenberg hangs banner honoring 2013 Louisville basketball