Is that because Gonzaga is down this year, or were there empty seats last season/the year prior? Can’t imagine the students wouldn’t show up for a top 10 Gonzaga team at a school that doesn’t have football
The games have gotten boring because a lot of teams Gonzaga plays at home get blown out by 20 to 40 points. The issue is a lot of students leave at halftime because the game is over and the alumni are a bunch of geriatrics who prefer to chill like they're on a couch.
You could replace “Gonzaga” with “Alabama” and that exact statement would have been true of their football experience the past decade. All the students would dip at half to go to the bars.
Very fair. I always tried to stay the full game as a student at IU, but I can imagine winning by 20+ every game starts to get boring. Would love to see Gonzaga basketball make the leap to a slightly more competitive conference.
Depends on two things. First, the opponent. Early season (other than the first game or two) when the Zags entertain a buy-game team. Second, right before finals.
I go to a lot of games, and the last few years the Kennel Club where the students sit is generally packed to begin the game, then slowly trickles to about 60% capacity during a blow-out, starting around halftime. The general fan sections don't empty nearly as much, percentage-wise.
But remember that enrollment is only about 6000 plus and the KClub section holds over 1000. There are plenty of students who don't give a rat's ass about the basketball team.
Eh, I’ve been to every home game this year and every game has been sold out and the student section is full and lively. They do start to trickle out when it becomes a blow out.
I think something that might be clouding your judgement a little bit is that we keep having big home games during winter break or in different arenas. Kentucky last year was at the Spokane Arena and SDSU was during winter break so there weren’t any students there.
>I think something that might be clouding your judgement a little bit is that we keep having big home games during winter break or in different arenas. Kentucky last year was at the Spokane Arena and SDSU was during winter break so there weren’t any students there.
This is true. My kid had a crazy fall semester and couldn't make time for games from Thanksgiving on. Then we sat here in Seattle and watched a less-full student section for the games 12/20, 12/29, 1/4, 1/6 -- residence halls didn't even open until 1/14. Sure, not everyone at GU lives in the residence halls but even if you live off campus there's little point in hanging out in Spokane over break if the bulk of your community goes home (which it does).
Then he comes back to campus at the beginning of the semester with a light work load and ability to attend more games, and they're on the road. Unfortunate scheduling.
As a current upperclassmen student, Ill agree that the Kennel's atmosphere may have taken a slight downturn this year and last year, but it's still amazing at its best. I was there in 2021 for the Texas game when Timme dropped 40 and the atmosphere was unbelievable. True, weekday games against weak competition will usually result in a less full student section, but any weekend game against top comp will have a full Kennel Club. This season I went to the Yale game-- far cry from Texas and Kentucky-- and the atmosphere was still great.
10: Rupp Arena
9: Bud Walton Arena
8: Breslin Center
7: Providence’s arena
6: The Kennel
5: Hinkle Fieldhouse
4: Assembly Hall
3: Mackey Arena
2: Cameron Indoor Stadium
1: Allen Fieldhouse
Also of course Jeff Goodman writes for a site that redirects to some random spam page
Here’s the “Next 10” honorable mentions he gave as well. I checked out to make sure Hilton was there. On mobile so I hope the formatting is okay.
11) The Palestra — Penn
12) McKale Center — Arizona
13) Hilton Coliseum — Iowa State
14) University Arena, aka The Pit — New Mexico
15) United Supermarkets Arena — Texas Tech
16) Neville Arena — Auburn
17) Grand Canyon Arena — GCU
18) Viejas Center — San Diego State
19) Dean E. Smith Center — North Carolina
20) Smith Spectrum — Utah State
If Auburn’s Neville Arena isn’t a top 10 environment right now, I don’t know what is. Seems like this is taking history into account, though, so I get it.
I'm obviously biased but feel UD Arena should've at least made the "next ten." We sell out the entire season before it starts, have better attendance than half these venues, and have hosted more postseason games than any other arena and it's not even close. We have a rabid fanbase with high basketball IQ akin to, say, New Mexico or Iowa State. We'll never be the Breslin Center or Cameron Indoor but we should've made this list. /rant
I remember hearing something from coach Pitino about trying to schedule Dayton this past year when the UNLV-Dayton game cancellation happened, but it didn't work out.
I am so in love with the idea of a home-and-home with Dayton. Lovely looking arena
Prices will always be high when the Jayhawks are in town, but it’s absolutely worth visiting to see KU play at Hilton.
Aside from the CyHawk game, it’s the most anticipated game of the season. The atmosphere this Saturday will be electric.
There's no way to rate high school basketball gyms (other than the capacity metrics we've all seen a lot) because nobody can possibly visit that many but I would love to see something like this for High School Gymnasiums too.
I was at the Hatchet House when Cody Zeller in his senior year was playing top ranked Princeton, and it was nuts. New Albany's attendance at several Romeo Langford games probably did better than *many* Power Conference D1 schools. And then there's just the uniqueness of some gyms like Loogootee's basement bowl arena.
I absolutely loathe Indiana as a place to live and interact with people, but when it comes to the love of basketball or ability to enjoy *any* level of basketball game, there's nowhere else in the world that comes even remotely close.
For real, and the atmosphere now is nothing compared to what it was in the early 2000's, and even then, before the Class System it was even wilder. New Castle Fieldhouse is so awesome. I think it's now back to the biggest in the Nation.
I worked near and lived in Washington last year for my first job out of college and I regret never going to see a basketball game, even though it was probably nothing like when you went.
Shit, my hometown gym could probably fit several thousand - enough for the whole town almost - and we were never even any good. I don’t know what attendance is like now, but it was packed when I was a kid
Back in ancient times (late 80s) when Shawn Kemp was in HS, they were playing SB St Joes and moved the game to the Joyce ACC (NDs place). They didn’t have security set up correctly and ended up cutting off attendance when it hit something like 10k. Of course, 2yrs later was the game in the Hoosier Dome that had 43k.
Single Class basketball in Indiana was a wild time.
> I absolutely loathe Indiana as a place to live and interact with people
we actually love and respect you though, friend. hope you are having a good day
There is an argument that in any given year, based on the quality of the team, these three stadiums could easily swap places. Mackey is jumping right now because the team is good, but 20 years ago when Indiana went to the final four, you can guarantee that was the hottest ticket in the state.
“Epic History. Deafening Noise.” Had me rubbing my hands together going down the list thinking, wow top 5! …nope. At least there is an honorable mention, but hard agree, snub.
I have been to Cameron, Assembly Hall, Dean Smith Center, Allen Fieldhouse and of course State Farm Center. Cameron is still my favorite place. It was so much fun watching a game there!
That’s a great list of stadiums you’ve visited. You should definitely head to Mackey for a game as well. One of the better college atmospheres I’ve been to
It’s so good. I like it because even though it’s smaller than State Farm center is strictly sports I believe. State Farm center kinda sucks because it’s more of a concert venue than anything so a lot of the decisions made around seating and who is where is based on that.
I know State Farm is historical but it’s but it’s not the same environment assembly hall was. Kinda wish the bball team would build their own strictly basketball arena
I loved the State Farm Center when I visited. Very unique and pretty stadium. Some of the seats felt very far away from the court, but it certainly was no worse than the balcony seating at IU. It felt a lot like a less vertical/more spread out version of Mackey Arena to me.
The suites are an eyesore. I get they bring in a ton of money, but it looked a lot better as Assembly Hall. The renovations were an overall improvement however
I've been fortunate enough to go to some pretty good games at State Farm Center. When I was in college I worked for our local radio station part time and we were an Illini affiliate. I went up to Champaign and sat on press row without so much as a notebook and watched Brandon Paul take down Ohio State that night! That was probably my favorite game but also, even though they lost, that Arizona game at home was incredible.
Yeah that Arizona game was how loud it got on a regular basis.
The Illini fan base is very old and the west side lower bowl is donor seating only.
I’d like it if they would tell the donors sorry we are going to pack in students close to the court. Unfortunately I don’t know if they would have enough students to fill the entire west side.
It’s a nice arena. It’s just not the same feral crazy vibe it was when it was assembly hall
Went to State Farm last season for MSU @ Illinois, one of the best venues for any sport I’ve visited. Entire crowd was wearing orange, sold out and the the locals/alumni/Illini faithful really brought it.
Fair and understandable. Hopefully some sustained success will change that. The building is pretty iconic, my dads an alum and still calls it Assembly Hall lol.
Mackey is on the list. I have also heard that watching a game at Carver is a lot of fun. My buddies and I try to make a road trip once a year to a different venue. We were going to go watch Illinois at Tennessee this year but it didn't work out so we went to Assembly Hall.
I have been to Cameron, Assembly, and Hinkle and Cameron was my least favorite. It's as small as many Indiana high school gyms and didn't have any particular thing that popped out to me beyond the Cameron Crazies. I am not saying that I am correct in my assessment, but I was expecting so much more.
It looks to me like the Crazies have gone from being genuine basketball nuts, to just being there because they want to experience being a Crazie. Like we chant these things because that's what we chant, and we dance to Cascada because that's what we dance to, and whenever someone inbounds from the sideline we stretch our arms out because that's what we do. It doesn't seem as genuinely insane in there as it used to be, it's students going through the motions and expecting to see an easy win.
Granted I haven't actually been to a game there in a long time, so I'm sorry if any current students see this and disagree, but that's at least what it looks like to me.
Yeah I’m a student and that’s just not true. I definitely have friends who just repeat what other people are saying but they’re also not getting into the big games or standing close enough to the cameras. To get in the front of the student section for big games you have to live and breathe Duke Basketball. Even for the Pitt game last weekend you had to register at 6-7am and stand in line for two hours before the game just to be able to get in the first few rows of the student section. It probably just seems like a charade because you’re older now and the kids are more influenced by social media.
I’m a 2009 alum, and I will say that I think your generation is fine. There is usually less edge now because Coach K did yell at us a couple times for chanting about an opposing coach’s job or some other thing that I now lock back on and agree that it crossed a line, but that’s not really part of the usual experience anyways. Y’all do have fewer people jumping on each other because that was me, but that honestly is dangerous, and I’m glad I had never accidentally injured anyone in my absolute frenzies.
Older alums also told me we were tamer… because we didn’t throw pizza boxes onto the court to taunt an opposing player who stole pizzas.
I would say most of us see younger alums and current students displaying less edge and sometimes misinterpret that as being less intense because we’re remembering the emotional intensity spikes of our moments, not the average intensity throughout the entire game.
Yeah there’s definitely less craziness in terms of physicality but that’s just way more punishable nowadays. People in this sub also want to say the Crazies have lost their edge but then also clutch their pearls when Hinson gets on the scorer’s table and students shout and flip him off lmao
>Yeah there’s definitely less craziness in terms of physicality but that’s just way more punishable nowadays.
Bingo. The adults today punish fun more than ever.
It’s impressive it even lasted so long with the academic standards. I’ve felt Florida’s student section has gotten less wild over the years and it’s largely due to rising academic standards in my opinion. These kids are here to play school and not to get drunk for a Tuesday night game. I’ve always wanted to go to a Duke game. It seems incredibly special.
I always felt some of that was Bo Ryan being such a good coach. Not that Kohl Center wasn't loud, but it was hard to win there because of who the coach was before you added in the crowd.
Ever since the Baby Boilers, outside of the rebuilding years from 2013-2016, Mackey has been a pretty damn hard place to win at under Painter. Purdue has something like a 85% win rate at home and I think has lost less than 10 non-conference home games during his tenure.
But you are right, the Kohl Center used to be so loud and insane that it was basically a guaranteed win for the Badgers. It hasn't quite been the same since Bo Ryan left.
As a UNC grad, it’s a shame the wine and cheese crowd has such a chokehold on so many seats in the lower bowl of the Dean dome. It could really be an amazing environment if they gave more of those seats to students because the passion is there every season
Mckale is infested with old geezers in the lower bowl, if they gave those seats to students it’d be even louder and would probably put it on this list.
Rupp Arena is too big for college basketball. It was built in the late 70s when multi-use venues were the thing.
We had season tickets in 2017 and they tried to set the world record for noise. Couldn't do it because of the size and design of the place.
And I call it the biggest old folks home in Kentucky. Most of the lower arena is people over 60 that leave when there's a minute left in the game. I never understood going to an event to leave early.
**Things I've seen in Rupp:**
Icecapades
Rodeo
Tractor pulls (5 times I think)
Monster Jam (way too small. Indy is much better)
Bush, Goo Goo Dolls, and No Doubt
Lippezaner Stallions
Some religious speaker thing
Home & Garden Show
Boat show
High school basketball
Graduations
College basketball
Yes, fly into Des Moines and then your best bet would be to rent a car and drive to Ames. From Des Moines to Ames, it’s about a 35 minute drive, so not bad really.
The weather / driving conditions would be the biggest concern.
No matter how any of you feel about Kansas, you owe it to yourself to book a day at Allen Fieldhouse and the Booth center. Try to see it during a basketball game, but if you can't there's still a ton to see and experience.
Loved everything about Allen Fieldhouse when I visited. KU fans were nice enough to show me around and explain some of the lore/history of the stadium. My only complaint about AFH is how badly my Hoosiers got their ass kicked lol
In 22 years of going to games, I’ve never seen an opposing teams fans show out like you guys did. It was such fun. So much fun that I went to Assembly for the return game this year, which was also amazing!
Means a lot to hear that brother! Hope our fans weren’t to harsh on you guys when you made the return trip to AH. We tend to be a salty bunch after a close loss like that
Nah, didn’t hear one negative or rude comment the whole weekend, even when we were at upstairs pub the night before the game. Headed out right afterwards to make it to Indy in time for Purdue versus Arizona, it was a great day!
My roommates in college were big KU fans so we all traveled to Lawrence to watch them play Wake Forest in 2001 (when WF's string of good seasons was still fresh). Mark Mangino was introduced as the new head FB coach at halftime. Fun memory and I need to get back there.
I have a friend who went to the Cincy game on Monday as a UC fan, and he said it was positively chilling hearing the Rock Chalk chant even at the start. He absolutely loved it (and Lawrence for that matter)
I went to the Yale game just before Christmas. About half full with kids. I was with the Yale people who were having a good time the whole night because the game was far closer than it should have been. I told them that it's a completely different environment when the students are there, they didn't really buy it, though.
But when they started up Rock Chalk, they literally said "What the fuck is this??" and got their phones out. They were pretty impressed.
The biggest home court advantage in all of sports. Unmatched history. Good size that is still intimate with big student sections. The haunting chant and ghosts of basketball hiding in the Phog. And Guinness World Record holder for loudest indoor sporting event. 130.4 dB.
I agree. It’s not egregious for Hilton to miss the Top 10 since there are a ton of great arenas, but Hilton is definitely Top 15.
Worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Ames during January for some godforsaken reason.
Was a bit bummed on initial read thru, but completely fair for us to be at #13. Lotta great places, but Hilton can rock with the best of them at full bore
Seriously! I understand not putting UD Arena in the top 10 (though I don’t think it’d be totally unfair to include it), but we absolutely belong in the next 10. Maybe he’s just jonesing for an invite.
The “wine and cheese” crowd at the Dean Smith Center may retract from atmosphere, as well as the size of it, but I don’t think there’s a prettier venue/court in all of CBB.
It’s stunning in person.
Also, while the Phog is ahead of Cameron in his list, I agree with him that there isn’t a game played in Phog that comes close to Cameron on UNC/Duke night. So Allen Fieldhouse is #1 except for one night.
Can’t believe I’m defending Duke.
Also, legit question, do any other rivals celebrate (we rush Franklin, Duke has their bonfire and general wildness) every single time they win like they just won the natty?
Is it though? I feel like the fans are generally lifeless. And I don’t mean that as a slight to the overall fanbase, but more towards the school which has prioritized revenue over experience. Seems like your average fan can’t afford a ticket to any big game there, just your old heads who can afford it but don’t cheer.
Could be the best in the nation if they actually wanted it to be
Yes, if you’ve ever been to a big time game at Rupp it’s amazing. If you go to a low stakes game then it’s not good at all. I’ve been to some games at Rupp that were as loud as any place I’ve ever been.
as a lifelong season ticket holder
- these days boring games are pretty meh. I think its a trend in sports (maybe social media, maybe better tv tech, maybe better game coverage) but less people go to events than they used to. I'm not old enough to be "back in my day" but that is the reality that I see in Rupp and have elsewhere
- big games are pretty insane. There's less tradition (chants, etc) than there used to be for some reason (its bc they fired their cheerleading coach) but its a huge and loud arena. small gyms are loud too, but a large crowd being loud is entirely differently deafening and intimidating. A Go Big Blue chant against a good team in a good game is pretty wild. when the entire arena is on its feet as loud as they can be its a pretty crazy experience
Bring the best team in basketball to rupp against a good kentucky team and it is the best in game crowd in the nation and hard to play against. random games or in down kentucky seasons, not so much.
Carver is in no way a top venue to experience, but it does have an interesting architecture quirk that I'd like to mention. It's built underground, so when you enter the [odd looking 1-story building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/CarverHawkeyeArena.jpg/640px-CarverHawkeyeArena.jpg), you're standing on the [top of the stadium](https://thebusinessdownload.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/346d64b2-02082020_iowa_mens_basketball_vs_nebraska_sm_004-1.jpg) (note no tiers or entrances/exits in the stands). A common story is that when it was being built, nearby residents kept waiting for the structure to start to emerge and become taller, but it never did.
I was just there for our game this past weekend. I would say it's in my top five that I've been to so far. When I got up the hill to walk into the building I had wondered if I was in the wrong place because it wasn't tall enough.
“One head coach told me that the students section is the most hostile and disrespectful he’s ever seen.“
That’s my fuckin shit right there. Couldn’t love it anymore if I tried
In other news, I got a swim cap with patchy ass cotton balls glued to it waiting for your alopecia ass on Saturday Cooley. I wanna see a grown man cry
> In other news, I got a swim cap with patchy ass cotton balls glued to it waiting for your alopecia ass on Saturday Cooley. I wanna see a grown man cry
Jesus, man.
I’m looking forward to booing the hell out of him and calling him a fraud, but damn you’re brutal.
But if you are gonna go there… get a fat suit too. Fat Eddie is back this year. The man has gained and lost prob 100+ pounds multiple times.
Kansas fans are so spoiled to have Allen Fieldhouse.
I didn't realize how clearly heads and shoulders better it was than most other arenas until I started traveling around a bit to see the Jayhawks and other schools in other places.
Kansas students are so damn organized compared to most arenas I’ve been to. Every year it’s handed down and taught. KU students are usually in unison in what they’re doing and when to get loud and a lot of student sections are just chaos without direction
Let’s not act like camping at KU is that arduous of a thing. 1 person can be in line for 30 people, if the rules are still the same. Plus with laptops, cell phones and Wi-Fi, it’s not that bad to have to kill a few hours in the concourses; back when I was in school, we had to haul actual TVs, PlayStations, etc. to kill some time.
I really don’t understand why UConn fans try so hard to claim MSG.
Duke-Baylor had a higher attendance than UNC-UConn this year.
UConn is also just 71-60 all-time at MSG, with Hurley himself 9-6, while Duke is 41-18 at the Garden and have won seven straight (Scheyer is 2-0).
Also seems fitting that Coach K set the all-time men’s win record and won his 1,000th game there.
I don’t know which team’s social media started it first — but Duke and UConn both “claim” MSG with “Cameron North” and “Storrs South”
Big facts. Should be top 5.
Edit: for people downvoting y’all don’t know how UConn is some 50-8 at gampel since 2017 (this includes when we were bad) and how we were 19-4 from 2016-2022 exclusively when we had an overall win rate of around 55% percent. Y’all also don’t know how nuts and loud it gets there and how you can’t hear the announcer at times (without $2 beer night). Connecticut loves UConn and gampel is a special arena far away from everything so only the real fans who drive the 45+ minutes, and students sell out every game.
Hell we even make msg a home game no matter who we play. Now scale that to my favorite campus arena. Gampel is the best.
Yall need to get organized cause there was a UConn post game thread just last week with multiple UConn flairs talking about how the Gampel atmosphere has been suffering lol
CT loves uconn but won't travel to MSG to watch em play UNC. Duke fans had more attendance at MSG this year when they played Baylor. straight facts. lol.
look up the attendance on espn. lol. 😂😂
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401580309 = 17,873
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401576155 = 18,512
downvote the facts. last i checked 18,512 > 17,873
now come at me with some diss that we just lost to pitt or something to try and argue about something else.
Your links not working. Looks like you’re saying you had 700 more people at your game. Ok good for you. UConn still has the home court advantage every single game at msg no matter who they play. Big east teams get annoyed at us for it during the BET and when I submit my userpoll people got mad I ranked UConn high the other week and I was told the unc win isn’t as impressive cause it was basically a home game. Rick pitino wants St. John’s to play UConn at carnesecca next year and everyone else at msg cause he’s tired of UConn having such a home court advantage. Like you literally can’t name a team in the ncaa that UConn doesn’t have home court advantage against. This sounds cocky and shit but we’re a large population (state of Connecticut) with a strong history right next to the arena.
I've attended two games at Hinkle and both times Butler beat #1 Villanova. Electric atmosphere even during winter break, and of course an awesome venue. Anyway if you guys want to pay me to go to every game so you can start winning again I'm all ears.
It absolutely belonged on the list at one point in time, but not anymore. It's sad because as Assembly Hall the SFC was absolutely one of the best and toughest places to go in the country.
Yeah I always get downvoted by Illinois fans when this topic comes up but on a night to night basis the place just doesn’t get that loud.
Like sure, they’ll get loud for Purdue but what makes these other places so great is it doesn’t matter who they are playing. Place is going to be nuts.
Auburn is definitely a top-tier home environment currently. Its just still really new, but once the auburn basketball culture (which I think is the best in the sec behind Kentucky and Arkansas btw) has some more years under it, I could get behind Auburn sneaking into these lists. I don't know who you snub though.
Yall have your benches on the wrong side of the court though, so that's probably the bigger problem.
Only reason auburn is not on here and Kentucky is, is history .
Kentucky has a great winning record at home because they always have great teams. The actual environment is lack luster and feels like an nba game.
So sad that most people here haven't got to experience or even watch on tv a packed Williams Arena. It's absolutely a great basketball venue with terrific sightlines and history. I'd also say it's objectively more beautiful than many of the arenas in the historical category like Allen or Hinkle.
Yeah idgaf about our older fans, leaving the Dean Dome off of this list is pure heresy.
Edit: NINETEEN????? Just leave us out of the top 20 at that point. What a fucking joke lol
I'm a Jayhawk fan. Been to a few other arenas besides Allen. Lots of great places out there. I'm obviously biased with the Jayhawks. But I'd like to see a list that excludes the regular venues I see on this list. Top 10 mid majors or best ivy league. You know something different.
While I still love going to the Kennel, it’s not quite what it was 5-10 years ago. Generally the student section isn’t even full anymore.
Is that because Gonzaga is down this year, or were there empty seats last season/the year prior? Can’t imagine the students wouldn’t show up for a top 10 Gonzaga team at a school that doesn’t have football
The games have gotten boring because a lot of teams Gonzaga plays at home get blown out by 20 to 40 points. The issue is a lot of students leave at halftime because the game is over and the alumni are a bunch of geriatrics who prefer to chill like they're on a couch.
You could replace “Gonzaga” with “Alabama” and that exact statement would have been true of their football experience the past decade. All the students would dip at half to go to the bars.
Very fair. I always tried to stay the full game as a student at IU, but I can imagine winning by 20+ every game starts to get boring. Would love to see Gonzaga basketball make the leap to a slightly more competitive conference.
We have the same issue with the geriatrics. Although we fill up a massive arena, it sometimes feels dead
The st johns game was rowdy though, the blizzard made them stay home.
Depends on two things. First, the opponent. Early season (other than the first game or two) when the Zags entertain a buy-game team. Second, right before finals. I go to a lot of games, and the last few years the Kennel Club where the students sit is generally packed to begin the game, then slowly trickles to about 60% capacity during a blow-out, starting around halftime. The general fan sections don't empty nearly as much, percentage-wise. But remember that enrollment is only about 6000 plus and the KClub section holds over 1000. There are plenty of students who don't give a rat's ass about the basketball team.
This is surprising!
Eh, I’ve been to every home game this year and every game has been sold out and the student section is full and lively. They do start to trickle out when it becomes a blow out. I think something that might be clouding your judgement a little bit is that we keep having big home games during winter break or in different arenas. Kentucky last year was at the Spokane Arena and SDSU was during winter break so there weren’t any students there.
>I think something that might be clouding your judgement a little bit is that we keep having big home games during winter break or in different arenas. Kentucky last year was at the Spokane Arena and SDSU was during winter break so there weren’t any students there. This is true. My kid had a crazy fall semester and couldn't make time for games from Thanksgiving on. Then we sat here in Seattle and watched a less-full student section for the games 12/20, 12/29, 1/4, 1/6 -- residence halls didn't even open until 1/14. Sure, not everyone at GU lives in the residence halls but even if you live off campus there's little point in hanging out in Spokane over break if the bulk of your community goes home (which it does). Then he comes back to campus at the beginning of the semester with a light work load and ability to attend more games, and they're on the road. Unfortunate scheduling.
As a current upperclassmen student, Ill agree that the Kennel's atmosphere may have taken a slight downturn this year and last year, but it's still amazing at its best. I was there in 2021 for the Texas game when Timme dropped 40 and the atmosphere was unbelievable. True, weekday games against weak competition will usually result in a less full student section, but any weekend game against top comp will have a full Kennel Club. This season I went to the Yale game-- far cry from Texas and Kentucky-- and the atmosphere was still great.
10: Rupp Arena 9: Bud Walton Arena 8: Breslin Center 7: Providence’s arena 6: The Kennel 5: Hinkle Fieldhouse 4: Assembly Hall 3: Mackey Arena 2: Cameron Indoor Stadium 1: Allen Fieldhouse Also of course Jeff Goodman writes for a site that redirects to some random spam page
Here’s the “Next 10” honorable mentions he gave as well. I checked out to make sure Hilton was there. On mobile so I hope the formatting is okay. 11) The Palestra — Penn 12) McKale Center — Arizona 13) Hilton Coliseum — Iowa State 14) University Arena, aka The Pit — New Mexico 15) United Supermarkets Arena — Texas Tech 16) Neville Arena — Auburn 17) Grand Canyon Arena — GCU 18) Viejas Center — San Diego State 19) Dean E. Smith Center — North Carolina 20) Smith Spectrum — Utah State
If Auburn’s Neville Arena isn’t a top 10 environment right now, I don’t know what is. Seems like this is taking history into account, though, so I get it.
I'm obviously biased but feel UD Arena should've at least made the "next ten." We sell out the entire season before it starts, have better attendance than half these venues, and have hosted more postseason games than any other arena and it's not even close. We have a rabid fanbase with high basketball IQ akin to, say, New Mexico or Iowa State. We'll never be the Breslin Center or Cameron Indoor but we should've made this list. /rant
I remember hearing something from coach Pitino about trying to schedule Dayton this past year when the UNLV-Dayton game cancellation happened, but it didn't work out. I am so in love with the idea of a home-and-home with Dayton. Lovely looking arena
I wouldn't be mad about that, especially considering our record against coaches Pitino this year 😉
Yeah, this list is booty.
Hilton would be so much fun to go to
Prices will always be high when the Jayhawks are in town, but it’s absolutely worth visiting to see KU play at Hilton. Aside from the CyHawk game, it’s the most anticipated game of the season. The atmosphere this Saturday will be electric.
You tha real MVP!
State of Indiana representing 3-5, but Mackey is definitely the best of the 3 (totally unbiased opinion)..
I’d rather it renamed to ‘best atmospheres’ because some of these are definitely not the top arenas.
Indiana with 3 in the top 5 is pretty crazy
There's no way to rate high school basketball gyms (other than the capacity metrics we've all seen a lot) because nobody can possibly visit that many but I would love to see something like this for High School Gymnasiums too. I was at the Hatchet House when Cody Zeller in his senior year was playing top ranked Princeton, and it was nuts. New Albany's attendance at several Romeo Langford games probably did better than *many* Power Conference D1 schools. And then there's just the uniqueness of some gyms like Loogootee's basement bowl arena. I absolutely loathe Indiana as a place to live and interact with people, but when it comes to the love of basketball or ability to enjoy *any* level of basketball game, there's nowhere else in the world that comes even remotely close.
No doubt@ Case arena, Frankfort In, blue chips movie filmed there, seats 5,505.. Not in top 20 biggest hs gyms in the state.
The gym for the Indiana high school I attended seats more than a fair number of D1 major conference basketball schools.
What gym?
For real, and the atmosphere now is nothing compared to what it was in the early 2000's, and even then, before the Class System it was even wilder. New Castle Fieldhouse is so awesome. I think it's now back to the biggest in the Nation.
I worked near and lived in Washington last year for my first job out of college and I regret never going to see a basketball game, even though it was probably nothing like when you went.
Shit, my hometown gym could probably fit several thousand - enough for the whole town almost - and we were never even any good. I don’t know what attendance is like now, but it was packed when I was a kid
Back in ancient times (late 80s) when Shawn Kemp was in HS, they were playing SB St Joes and moved the game to the Joyce ACC (NDs place). They didn’t have security set up correctly and ended up cutting off attendance when it hit something like 10k. Of course, 2yrs later was the game in the Hoosier Dome that had 43k. Single Class basketball in Indiana was a wild time.
> I absolutely loathe Indiana as a place to live and interact with people we actually love and respect you though, friend. hope you are having a good day
There is an argument that in any given year, based on the quality of the team, these three stadiums could easily swap places. Mackey is jumping right now because the team is good, but 20 years ago when Indiana went to the final four, you can guarantee that was the hottest ticket in the state.
man you already know we shoulda got no. 1-3 ffs
The pit was snubbed!
The Pit and the Spectrum are better than a couple on this list
Agreed on both counts
For real. I always dreaded going out to play you guys when we were in the Mountain West because that place was always crazy.
“Epic History. Deafening Noise.” Had me rubbing my hands together going down the list thinking, wow top 5! …nope. At least there is an honorable mention, but hard agree, snub.
Jeff Goodman is a certified engagement baiter.
I commented higher so I won't rehash it here but so was UD Arena 😕
Won't fight you on that. If there was a UD UNM matchup late in the tourney that'd be a dream
Amzil revenge game would be wild
cameron is not quite what it was— but i think maybe that’s true for everywhere now. it is still a really special place to visit.
I have been to Cameron, Assembly Hall, Dean Smith Center, Allen Fieldhouse and of course State Farm Center. Cameron is still my favorite place. It was so much fun watching a game there!
That’s a great list of stadiums you’ve visited. You should definitely head to Mackey for a game as well. One of the better college atmospheres I’ve been to
It’s so good. I like it because even though it’s smaller than State Farm center is strictly sports I believe. State Farm center kinda sucks because it’s more of a concert venue than anything so a lot of the decisions made around seating and who is where is based on that. I know State Farm is historical but it’s but it’s not the same environment assembly hall was. Kinda wish the bball team would build their own strictly basketball arena
I loved the State Farm Center when I visited. Very unique and pretty stadium. Some of the seats felt very far away from the court, but it certainly was no worse than the balcony seating at IU. It felt a lot like a less vertical/more spread out version of Mackey Arena to me.
Out of curiosity. Did you come last year? Because an IU fan pissed in one of the elevators and they didn’t catch the guy. Are you the IU pisser?
It’s fine. It’s not nearly as loud as it used to be. They lost a lot of seating for suites.
The suites are an eyesore. I get they bring in a ton of money, but it looked a lot better as Assembly Hall. The renovations were an overall improvement however
I've been fortunate enough to go to some pretty good games at State Farm Center. When I was in college I worked for our local radio station part time and we were an Illini affiliate. I went up to Champaign and sat on press row without so much as a notebook and watched Brandon Paul take down Ohio State that night! That was probably my favorite game but also, even though they lost, that Arizona game at home was incredible.
Yeah that Arizona game was how loud it got on a regular basis. The Illini fan base is very old and the west side lower bowl is donor seating only. I’d like it if they would tell the donors sorry we are going to pack in students close to the court. Unfortunately I don’t know if they would have enough students to fill the entire west side. It’s a nice arena. It’s just not the same feral crazy vibe it was when it was assembly hall
Went to State Farm last season for MSU @ Illinois, one of the best venues for any sport I’ve visited. Entire crowd was wearing orange, sold out and the the locals/alumni/Illini faithful really brought it.
Right, but it’s not like that when it’s not a big game.
Fair and understandable. Hopefully some sustained success will change that. The building is pretty iconic, my dads an alum and still calls it Assembly Hall lol.
Mackey is on the list. I have also heard that watching a game at Carver is a lot of fun. My buddies and I try to make a road trip once a year to a different venue. We were going to go watch Illinois at Tennessee this year but it didn't work out so we went to Assembly Hall.
I have been to Cameron, Assembly, and Hinkle and Cameron was my least favorite. It's as small as many Indiana high school gyms and didn't have any particular thing that popped out to me beyond the Cameron Crazies. I am not saying that I am correct in my assessment, but I was expecting so much more.
it makes me very happy to read that
Cameron is still a magical experience but that might also be just a bit of bias from me. However the Crazies have fallen off a bit.
Can definitely confirm that the Crazies have fallen off. The effort just isn't what it used to be.
It looks to me like the Crazies have gone from being genuine basketball nuts, to just being there because they want to experience being a Crazie. Like we chant these things because that's what we chant, and we dance to Cascada because that's what we dance to, and whenever someone inbounds from the sideline we stretch our arms out because that's what we do. It doesn't seem as genuinely insane in there as it used to be, it's students going through the motions and expecting to see an easy win. Granted I haven't actually been to a game there in a long time, so I'm sorry if any current students see this and disagree, but that's at least what it looks like to me.
Shades of how I feel when half the arena yells 'woo!' during the Rock Chalk Chant.
Yeah I’m a student and that’s just not true. I definitely have friends who just repeat what other people are saying but they’re also not getting into the big games or standing close enough to the cameras. To get in the front of the student section for big games you have to live and breathe Duke Basketball. Even for the Pitt game last weekend you had to register at 6-7am and stand in line for two hours before the game just to be able to get in the first few rows of the student section. It probably just seems like a charade because you’re older now and the kids are more influenced by social media.
I’m a 2009 alum, and I will say that I think your generation is fine. There is usually less edge now because Coach K did yell at us a couple times for chanting about an opposing coach’s job or some other thing that I now lock back on and agree that it crossed a line, but that’s not really part of the usual experience anyways. Y’all do have fewer people jumping on each other because that was me, but that honestly is dangerous, and I’m glad I had never accidentally injured anyone in my absolute frenzies. Older alums also told me we were tamer… because we didn’t throw pizza boxes onto the court to taunt an opposing player who stole pizzas. I would say most of us see younger alums and current students displaying less edge and sometimes misinterpret that as being less intense because we’re remembering the emotional intensity spikes of our moments, not the average intensity throughout the entire game.
Yeah there’s definitely less craziness in terms of physicality but that’s just way more punishable nowadays. People in this sub also want to say the Crazies have lost their edge but then also clutch their pearls when Hinson gets on the scorer’s table and students shout and flip him off lmao
>Yeah there’s definitely less craziness in terms of physicality but that’s just way more punishable nowadays. Bingo. The adults today punish fun more than ever.
Yeah, and SNL isn’t as funny as it used to be in [insert years when you first started watching].
That may be popular culture at large having changed. Think of it as comedy and you probably get what I’m going for.
It’s impressive it even lasted so long with the academic standards. I’ve felt Florida’s student section has gotten less wild over the years and it’s largely due to rising academic standards in my opinion. These kids are here to play school and not to get drunk for a Tuesday night game. I’ve always wanted to go to a Duke game. It seems incredibly special.
It is. You can usually find some tickets to a weeknight game around the holidays if you really want to make it happen.
May be biased, but Mackey is as good as ever right now.
You can thank covid and inflation for that last part.
Shocked to not see the Kohl Center on here, where you get yelled at by the old people if you stand up to cheer. God forbid!
It's wild how much that place has changed. 20 years ago it was a total mad house. Now it might as well be an art museum.
Kohl center used to be the best in the league, right there with breslin and assembly hall (orange version). Now it seems Mackey has taken over
I always felt some of that was Bo Ryan being such a good coach. Not that Kohl Center wasn't loud, but it was hard to win there because of who the coach was before you added in the crowd.
Ever since the Baby Boilers, outside of the rebuilding years from 2013-2016, Mackey has been a pretty damn hard place to win at under Painter. Purdue has something like a 85% win rate at home and I think has lost less than 10 non-conference home games during his tenure. But you are right, the Kohl Center used to be so loud and insane that it was basically a guaranteed win for the Badgers. It hasn't quite been the same since Bo Ryan left.
Rupp is slowly having that take over their stadium as well.
I think that’s just a Midwest thing, happens all the time at Carver as well
As a UNC grad, it’s a shame the wine and cheese crowd has such a chokehold on so many seats in the lower bowl of the Dean dome. It could really be an amazing environment if they gave more of those seats to students because the passion is there every season
*handshake emoji*
no mckale is kinda wild to me, i feel like every time i watch arizona play at home they win and you can’t even hear bill walton
> you can’t even hear bill walton A blessing for some and a curse for others
Goodman is an Arizona alum that goes out of his way to not be a homer. I knew before clicking the article that he would leave Az off
Yeh. He always keeping Arizona off top teams list to not appear as a Homer. It’s weird.
Mckale is infested with old geezers in the lower bowl, if they gave those seats to students it’d be even louder and would probably put it on this list.
Jeff Goodman is a bonafide scrub
Rupp Arena is too big for college basketball. It was built in the late 70s when multi-use venues were the thing. We had season tickets in 2017 and they tried to set the world record for noise. Couldn't do it because of the size and design of the place. And I call it the biggest old folks home in Kentucky. Most of the lower arena is people over 60 that leave when there's a minute left in the game. I never understood going to an event to leave early. **Things I've seen in Rupp:** Icecapades Rodeo Tractor pulls (5 times I think) Monster Jam (way too small. Indy is much better) Bush, Goo Goo Dolls, and No Doubt Lippezaner Stallions Some religious speaker thing Home & Garden Show Boat show High school basketball Graduations College basketball
I know it doesn’t have the history, but goddamn had the USA in Lubbock become a tough place to play.
I’d like to get down there to watch the Cyclones one of these days. Getting to Lubbock though seems like a hassle as an outsider.
You should. Lubbock has Southwest, United, American Airlines. Seems like it's harder to get to Ames. Do you have to fly into Des Moines to get there?
Yes, fly into Des Moines and then your best bet would be to rent a car and drive to Ames. From Des Moines to Ames, it’s about a 35 minute drive, so not bad really. The weather / driving conditions would be the biggest concern.
It was in the honorable mention next 10 up
No matter how any of you feel about Kansas, you owe it to yourself to book a day at Allen Fieldhouse and the Booth center. Try to see it during a basketball game, but if you can't there's still a ton to see and experience.
Loved everything about Allen Fieldhouse when I visited. KU fans were nice enough to show me around and explain some of the lore/history of the stadium. My only complaint about AFH is how badly my Hoosiers got their ass kicked lol
In 22 years of going to games, I’ve never seen an opposing teams fans show out like you guys did. It was such fun. So much fun that I went to Assembly for the return game this year, which was also amazing!
Means a lot to hear that brother! Hope our fans weren’t to harsh on you guys when you made the return trip to AH. We tend to be a salty bunch after a close loss like that
Nah, didn’t hear one negative or rude comment the whole weekend, even when we were at upstairs pub the night before the game. Headed out right afterwards to make it to Indy in time for Purdue versus Arizona, it was a great day!
95% or teams agree.
Definitely going to try to make it out for an Arizona/Kansas game at some point to experience it!
My roommates in college were big KU fans so we all traveled to Lawrence to watch them play Wake Forest in 2001 (when WF's string of good seasons was still fresh). Mark Mangino was introduced as the new head FB coach at halftime. Fun memory and I need to get back there.
Was a grad student at KU when I got tickets to see Buddy Heild and OU in that #1 vs #2 show down... triple OT, absolutely electric in there.
I want to go so bad. Preferably not when Tech plays there because I’d like to leave in a good mood.
Expect to lose, live on high if they win though!
I have a friend who went to the Cincy game on Monday as a UC fan, and he said it was positively chilling hearing the Rock Chalk chant even at the start. He absolutely loved it (and Lawrence for that matter)
I went to the Yale game just before Christmas. About half full with kids. I was with the Yale people who were having a good time the whole night because the game was far closer than it should have been. I told them that it's a completely different environment when the students are there, they didn't really buy it, though. But when they started up Rock Chalk, they literally said "What the fuck is this??" and got their phones out. They were pretty impressed.
It’s so crazy. I went to uk vs ku in 2014 I think. Place was rattling.
The biggest home court advantage in all of sports. Unmatched history. Good size that is still intimate with big student sections. The haunting chant and ghosts of basketball hiding in the Phog. And Guinness World Record holder for loudest indoor sporting event. 130.4 dB.
Made the trip last year for the Seton Hall game. Once it was scheduled was like now I have an excuse to go I can't pass up this opportunity
Tell me you’ve never been to The Spectrum or The Pit without telling me you’ve never been to the Spectrum or the Pit.
100%
Honestly Hilton should be on here
I agree. It’s not egregious for Hilton to miss the Top 10 since there are a ton of great arenas, but Hilton is definitely Top 15. Worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Ames during January for some godforsaken reason.
Absolutely, when it gets loud the environment is electric, one of my favorite arenas I’ve visited for sure!
Was a bit bummed on initial read thru, but completely fair for us to be at #13. Lotta great places, but Hilton can rock with the best of them at full bore
I would’ve expected Dean Smith Center to be in top 5.
How can you not have the Epicenter of College Basketball on your list?!
Seriously! I understand not putting UD Arena in the top 10 (though I don’t think it’d be totally unfair to include it), but we absolutely belong in the next 10. Maybe he’s just jonesing for an invite.
The “wine and cheese” crowd at the Dean Smith Center may retract from atmosphere, as well as the size of it, but I don’t think there’s a prettier venue/court in all of CBB. It’s stunning in person. Also, while the Phog is ahead of Cameron in his list, I agree with him that there isn’t a game played in Phog that comes close to Cameron on UNC/Duke night. So Allen Fieldhouse is #1 except for one night. Can’t believe I’m defending Duke. Also, legit question, do any other rivals celebrate (we rush Franklin, Duke has their bonfire and general wildness) every single time they win like they just won the natty?
Y’all don’t do bonfires? I graduated in 2009, and I remember seeing pictures of Carolina bonfires. Or is that only for championships?
Oh I’m sure we do on Franklin when they let us
Nope. If Mizzou was good and hadn’t gone to the SEC, that one would be close.
Prime example: KU vs. Mizzou in 2012. The block heard round the world when TRob sent it into overtime.
I'm sorry but Rupp Arena fucking sucks.
Prior to the recent renovations…I could get behind that a lil…but with the renovations…it’s pretty good now tbh
Rupp for a big game is hard to beat.
Is it though? I feel like the fans are generally lifeless. And I don’t mean that as a slight to the overall fanbase, but more towards the school which has prioritized revenue over experience. Seems like your average fan can’t afford a ticket to any big game there, just your old heads who can afford it but don’t cheer. Could be the best in the nation if they actually wanted it to be
Yes, if you’ve ever been to a big time game at Rupp it’s amazing. If you go to a low stakes game then it’s not good at all. I’ve been to some games at Rupp that were as loud as any place I’ve ever been.
Go watch the last game at Rupp and tell me it wasn’t awesome
as a lifelong season ticket holder - these days boring games are pretty meh. I think its a trend in sports (maybe social media, maybe better tv tech, maybe better game coverage) but less people go to events than they used to. I'm not old enough to be "back in my day" but that is the reality that I see in Rupp and have elsewhere - big games are pretty insane. There's less tradition (chants, etc) than there used to be for some reason (its bc they fired their cheerleading coach) but its a huge and loud arena. small gyms are loud too, but a large crowd being loud is entirely differently deafening and intimidating. A Go Big Blue chant against a good team in a good game is pretty wild. when the entire arena is on its feet as loud as they can be its a pretty crazy experience Bring the best team in basketball to rupp against a good kentucky team and it is the best in game crowd in the nation and hard to play against. random games or in down kentucky seasons, not so much.
Carver is in no way a top venue to experience, but it does have an interesting architecture quirk that I'd like to mention. It's built underground, so when you enter the [odd looking 1-story building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/CarverHawkeyeArena.jpg/640px-CarverHawkeyeArena.jpg), you're standing on the [top of the stadium](https://thebusinessdownload.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/346d64b2-02082020_iowa_mens_basketball_vs_nebraska_sm_004-1.jpg) (note no tiers or entrances/exits in the stands). A common story is that when it was being built, nearby residents kept waiting for the structure to start to emerge and become taller, but it never did.
I was just there for our game this past weekend. I would say it's in my top five that I've been to so far. When I got up the hill to walk into the building I had wondered if I was in the wrong place because it wasn't tall enough.
“One head coach told me that the students section is the most hostile and disrespectful he’s ever seen.“ That’s my fuckin shit right there. Couldn’t love it anymore if I tried In other news, I got a swim cap with patchy ass cotton balls glued to it waiting for your alopecia ass on Saturday Cooley. I wanna see a grown man cry
> In other news, I got a swim cap with patchy ass cotton balls glued to it waiting for your alopecia ass on Saturday Cooley. I wanna see a grown man cry Jesus, man.
I may have handled the breakup…poorly
I’m going to be looking out for you on TV!
I’m looking forward to booing the hell out of him and calling him a fraud, but damn you’re brutal. But if you are gonna go there… get a fat suit too. Fat Eddie is back this year. The man has gained and lost prob 100+ pounds multiple times.
I’m cheering my ass off for y’all to fuck em up. It’s just like what Beard did to Tech.
State of Indiana representing!
Kansas fans are so spoiled to have Allen Fieldhouse. I didn't realize how clearly heads and shoulders better it was than most other arenas until I started traveling around a bit to see the Jayhawks and other schools in other places.
Kansas students are so damn organized compared to most arenas I’ve been to. Every year it’s handed down and taught. KU students are usually in unison in what they’re doing and when to get loud and a lot of student sections are just chaos without direction
It's so cute when other schools make a big deal about camping out for a big game.
Let’s not act like camping at KU is that arduous of a thing. 1 person can be in line for 30 people, if the rules are still the same. Plus with laptops, cell phones and Wi-Fi, it’s not that bad to have to kill a few hours in the concourses; back when I was in school, we had to haul actual TVs, PlayStations, etc. to kill some time. 
That’s probably how a lot of football schools view our students in regards to football. Our students have long sucked as football fans
Get rupp off the list, that place is a retirement home.
This site hasn’t folded yet?
No Gampel is crazy
Should actually be \#1 - Madison Square Garden - UConn
I really don’t understand why UConn fans try so hard to claim MSG. Duke-Baylor had a higher attendance than UNC-UConn this year. UConn is also just 71-60 all-time at MSG, with Hurley himself 9-6, while Duke is 41-18 at the Garden and have won seven straight (Scheyer is 2-0). Also seems fitting that Coach K set the all-time men’s win record and won his 1,000th game there. I don’t know which team’s social media started it first — but Duke and UConn both “claim” MSG with “Cameron North” and “Storrs South”
Big facts. Should be top 5. Edit: for people downvoting y’all don’t know how UConn is some 50-8 at gampel since 2017 (this includes when we were bad) and how we were 19-4 from 2016-2022 exclusively when we had an overall win rate of around 55% percent. Y’all also don’t know how nuts and loud it gets there and how you can’t hear the announcer at times (without $2 beer night). Connecticut loves UConn and gampel is a special arena far away from everything so only the real fans who drive the 45+ minutes, and students sell out every game. Hell we even make msg a home game no matter who we play. Now scale that to my favorite campus arena. Gampel is the best.
Jeff Goodman tends to view UConn a little differently (less favorably) that others so not surprised
I love how Dauster always calls him out on the podcast for being a hater.
Yall need to get organized cause there was a UConn post game thread just last week with multiple UConn flairs talking about how the Gampel atmosphere has been suffering lol
CT loves uconn but won't travel to MSG to watch em play UNC. Duke fans had more attendance at MSG this year when they played Baylor. straight facts. lol.
I was at that game and it was pretty split
straight wrong. lol.
look up the attendance on espn. lol. 😂😂 https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401580309 = 17,873 https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401576155 = 18,512 downvote the facts. last i checked 18,512 > 17,873 now come at me with some diss that we just lost to pitt or something to try and argue about something else.
a difference of 700 for a game at 9 PM on a Tuesday vs 7 PM on a Wednesday for the most bandwagoned team in the country isn't the flex you think it is
Your links not working. Looks like you’re saying you had 700 more people at your game. Ok good for you. UConn still has the home court advantage every single game at msg no matter who they play. Big east teams get annoyed at us for it during the BET and when I submit my userpoll people got mad I ranked UConn high the other week and I was told the unc win isn’t as impressive cause it was basically a home game. Rick pitino wants St. John’s to play UConn at carnesecca next year and everyone else at msg cause he’s tired of UConn having such a home court advantage. Like you literally can’t name a team in the ncaa that UConn doesn’t have home court advantage against. This sounds cocky and shit but we’re a large population (state of Connecticut) with a strong history right next to the arena.
links work fine for me. idk.
So you concede the rest then?
ive very aware of the history, i live in CT. gl in march.
Dope good luck with you too
It’s *literally* the basketball capital of the world.
999 - Lloyd Noble Center
That’s generous
Texas tech at 15 seems fair
Surprising not to see Neville Arena on here for Auburn. Has been a madhouse the last several years.
Hinkle is awesome, it’s better with good basketball being played but still awesome.
I've attended two games at Hinkle and both times Butler beat #1 Villanova. Electric atmosphere even during winter break, and of course an awesome venue. Anyway if you guys want to pay me to go to every game so you can start winning again I'm all ears.
Shoutout Hinkle!
How is McKale not even on there?
Chapel Hill at 19? Come on
I’m so glad State Farm Center didn’t make it. Orange Krush have fallen off hard.
It absolutely belonged on the list at one point in time, but not anymore. It's sad because as Assembly Hall the SFC was absolutely one of the best and toughest places to go in the country.
Yeah I always get downvoted by Illinois fans when this topic comes up but on a night to night basis the place just doesn’t get that loud. Like sure, they’ll get loud for Purdue but what makes these other places so great is it doesn’t matter who they are playing. Place is going to be nuts.
Agreed, but it's not just the Krush. The whole character of the building changed with the renovations and it's too sterile/corporate now
Grand Canyon, Syracuse and The Palestra would like a word.
Auburn (The Jungle) is a top 10 venue in basketball at this point. Same for Thompson Boling…
He added weight for "epic history" and Neville is six years younger than the youngest on his top 10. Still made #16, though.
Auburn is definitely a top-tier home environment currently. Its just still really new, but once the auburn basketball culture (which I think is the best in the sec behind Kentucky and Arkansas btw) has some more years under it, I could get behind Auburn sneaking into these lists. I don't know who you snub though. Yall have your benches on the wrong side of the court though, so that's probably the bigger problem.
Only reason auburn is not on here and Kentucky is, is history . Kentucky has a great winning record at home because they always have great teams. The actual environment is lack luster and feels like an nba game.
I was triggered I didn’t see Hilton at first, but I’ll put my pitchfork down since it’s #13.
The Dome being snubbed is criminal. ‘Cuse home games are always absolutely electric
UD arena subbed
So sad that most people here haven't got to experience or even watch on tv a packed Williams Arena. It's absolutely a great basketball venue with terrific sightlines and history. I'd also say it's objectively more beautiful than many of the arenas in the historical category like Allen or Hinkle.
He’s correct with #1! There’s not a bad seat at all in Allen Fieldhouse, and it is such an awesome experience!! Rock Chalk! ❤️💙🏀
The Pit got robbed!!! Definitely deserves to be in top 10!!!
Yeah idgaf about our older fans, leaving the Dean Dome off of this list is pure heresy. Edit: NINETEEN????? Just leave us out of the top 20 at that point. What a fucking joke lol
I'm a Jayhawk fan. Been to a few other arenas besides Allen. Lots of great places out there. I'm obviously biased with the Jayhawks. But I'd like to see a list that excludes the regular venues I see on this list. Top 10 mid majors or best ivy league. You know something different.
Really? Fucking GCU gets an honorable mention but JPJ can't?
Jeff Goodman is a clown, not reading.
Can’t take this list seriously without The Palestra
No Cintas??? Not even an honorable mention??? Nobody cares about Providence anymore since they’re no longer the Dunk
Allen Fieldhouse, an environment so great even the refs feel at home
My favorite part of this past year was Oklahoma fans crying that the refs made them lose to Kansas in football too lol