as much as baseball
stadiums. Unlike the NBA arenas that are large, sterile, skewed more
to service the corporate world, and expensive for the average
attendee, the college basketball arenas come in all shapes, sizes and
variety. Their features are intrinsically different and reflect the
culture not only of the campus, but of the fans who attend.
From the little gyms like St. Francis’ (NY) Pope Center, that seats
1,200 if you have people sitting on each other, to Kentucky’s Rupp
Arena, which seats 23,000, some are truly gyms, while others are large
arenas with club seats and corporate boxes. But size is not an
ultimate criteria for determining if it is a great place to watch
basketball.
The debate when choosing the best venues is between comfort and
atmosphere. Is it the traits of the physical structure including the
charm and history of the building or is it the actions and enthusiasm
of the fans? Rating high on the structure end are the Kohl Center at
Wisconsin, the Goodman Convocation Center at Cleveland State, the
Nutter Center at Wright State, and Carver-Hawkeye Arena at Iowa. These
all have great seating bowls that give the fans a great view of the
action with various amenities targeted to make the fan comfortable
inside and out from cup holders and wide seats, to wide concourses
full of tasty treats. But physical comfort alone does not determine if
it is a great place to watch basketball.
As I was visiting arenas, it became clear to me that the unique
atmosphere, from the antics and energy of the crowd plus the sometime
indescribable charm of the older buildings, are what really create a
memorable experience. So, I have landed firmly on the side of
atmosphere. The newest building on my list is almost 50 years old. I
get chills from the thrill of watching a game in all five of these
arenas. Any time I visit one of these arenas, I find myself just
walking around soaking in the history and becoming absorbed in the
home team frenzy, and for that night they become my favorite team. A
visit to any of these arenas is something that serious basketball fans
should try to schedule.
CigarBoy’s 5 Best Venues to Watch College Basketball
1.Kansas’
Allen Fieldhouse - built in 1955 it gets 16,300 fans
surprisingly close to the action and they are loud! It has a charm
to it that you just can’t find in many arenas. It is almost all
bleachers so they really get a lot fans into a building that is not
all that big. It was ahead of its time with the bleachers in the
corners angled in toward the court and three concourses that spread
out the crowd to relieve pedestrian congestion. (picture courtesy of
University of Kansas Athletics.)
2.Minnesota’s Williams Arena - built in 1928 is historic and
charming. It has a raised playing floor where the first row of fans
are looking at the players at about knee level. They also did a good
job of honoring their history by having large banners hanging in the
arena of past Gopher greats. The food prices are pretty good too. It
seats 14, 395 for basketball.
3.Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse - another one built in 1928. Try
to catch an afternoon game when the sun is shinning in from the
windows at the top of the arena as if the heavens are watching the
game too. If it doesn’t send chills down your back, you are not a
genuine hoops fan. It seats 11,000 for basketball.
4.The historic Palestra home court for Penn, but I think it
really belongs to the Big 5. It was built in 1927 and seats 8700 for
basketball. It is loud and when you walk around the outer concourse,
you get a real sense of the history of this sacred basketball
building. There are pictures of many of the past greats from the Big
5 who played there hanging on the wall and in display cases.
5.Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium - the student crowd, known as
the “Cameron Crazies”, are incredible with their well-ingrained
actions and chants for all 60 minutes of the game and a robust
half-time show too. The building is a little tight from a comfort
standpoint, but the history is great from the architecture of the
building to the numerous displays documenting the past. It seats 9,314
screaming fans.
