college basketball arena rankings

  • After Iowa State won the Big 12, a Cyclone made a wonderful offer to We Will that now increases our match. Now all gifts up to $400,000 between now and the Final 4 will be matched. Please consider giving at We Will Collective.
    This notice can be dismissed using the upper right corner X button.

Doc

This is it Morty
Aug 6, 2006
37,437
21,962
113
Denver
I'm sad I gave them a page hit. Number 11 is an absolute joke. They average like 6,000 fans a game.


11. Texas A&M: From the custom Yell Leaders instead of cheerleaders to Aggie fans' passion for the games it is hard to find many schools with more passionate fans.
 
Last edited:

Chitowncy

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
Jan 14, 2009
2,091
1,206
113
Ames
One look and you know they are measuring bizarre things that don't make a basketball experience great to most of us.

For example, the "food quality" is taken into account. The neighborhood of the arena, ease of access (parking, etc.), all these things are taken into account. Thus, you get a bizarre list where Texas' half empty arena sits at number 10, Baylor's Farrell Center sits at 24, Creighton's quiet and unenthused crowd sits at 4, and Duke's Cameron Indoor sits at 31! Haha. What a ridiculous list.
 

Wesley

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
70,923
546
113
Omaha
"one of the best homecourts advantages in the state"...as opposed to UNI or Carver? Wow. The 818 seat arena at 15 is a real streeeetch.
 

Cycsk

Year-round tailgater
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Aug 17, 2009
26,943
14,828
113
The rankings alone are pretty worthless without seeing the actual ratings.
 

jdoggivjc

Well-Known Member
Sep 27, 2006
59,397
20,925
113
Macomb, MI

At first I was thinking "whatever," but after reading the list I completely agree with your assessment. The jokes of the list of arenas that are ranked ahead of Hilton are:

2. Carrier Dome - Home of the Syracuse Orange (IT'S A FREAKING FOOTBALL STADIUM!!!)
4. CenturyLink Center - Home of the Creighton Bluejays
5. Dee Glen Smith Spectrum - Home of the Utah State Aggies
10. Frank Erwin Special Events Center - Home of the Texas Longhorns
11. Reed Arena - Home of the Texas A&M Aggies
12. Marriott Center - Home of the BYU Cougars
13. Bud Walton Arena - Home of the Arkansas Razorbacks
15. G.B. Hodge Center - Home of the USC Upstate Spartans
16. Williams Arena - Home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers
17. SIU Arena - Home of the Southern Illinois Salukis
21. Don Haskins Center - Home of the UTEP Miners (just because Haskins is a legend doesn't mean the arena named after him is legendary)
22. Dale F. Halton Arena - Home of the Charlotte 49ers
23. E.A. Diddle Arena - Home of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
24. Ferrell Center - Home of the Baylor Bears

If I were to rank it, this would be my list:

1. Rupp Arena - Home of the Kentucky Wildcats
2. Phog Allen Fieldhouse - Home of the Kansas Jayhawks
3. Dean E. Smith Center - Home of the North Carolina Tar Heels
4. Cameron Indoor Stadium - Home of the Duke Blue Devils
5. Breslin Center - Home of the Michigan State Spartans
6. Harry A. Gampel Pavilion - Home of the Connecticut Huskies
7. KFC Yum! Center - Home of the Louisville Cardinals
8. University Arena (The Pit) - Home of the New Mexico Lobos
9. James H. Hilton Coliseum - Home of the Iowa State Cyclones
10. Crisler Center - Home of the Michigan Wolverines
 

CyCrazy

Well-Known Member
Dec 17, 2008
26,101
13,744
113
Ames
That list alone is garbage with UT/Aggtard/and BU ahead of us. Let alone Illinois at 230? Um what?
 

HFCS

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2010
67,145
54,198
113
LA LA Land
It seems to me people don't like college basketball in Texas. Even when Texas teams in our conference are ranked and ISU is ranked nobody comes to the games.

I remember in 2000 it was a highly ranked showdown in Austin, they were giving away free tickets for some reason and the arena was still half empty. Not sure why the NCAA feels that state needs to host multiple rounds of the tournament there every year. Completely idiotic to have several Texas arenas in a top 25 or even a top 100.
 

Clone9

Well-Known Member
Nov 12, 2006
3,201
959
113
Boston, MA
The Dean Dome is not good and doesn't deserve to be in the top 20. Obviously a lot of good things have happened in that arena, and I'm sure its rocking for the Duke v UNC games....but it is VERY blah. No character, not a lot of enthusiasm (they expect to win), and not great logistics. I'm not bashing UNC basketball, but the arena is not a good one.

Cameron Indoor, just down the road, is amazing. It actually is a bit of a dump but is FULL of character. Totally different environment and a lot better IMO.
 

bigdaddykane

Active Member
Mar 3, 2014
5,589
12
38
34
Cameron Indoor, just down the road, is amazing. It actually is a bit of a dump but is FULL of character. Totally different environment and a lot better IMO.
and it only fits 9300 how crazy would it be if it fit 21,000 like the dean smith center
 

Dryburn

Well-Known Member
Apr 3, 2006
10,026
515
113
Somewhere in the U.S.
Well, I made the mistake of clicking on Hilton's name on the first page and actually reading the rest of the write-up on it. A complete waste of time. Not only is the ranking too low, but the write-up does not make a lot of sense. Saying it is one of the better atmospheres in the state? They meant in the country, right? I mean, how many arenas of this size does he think there are in Iowa?

This seemed to be about the 2011/12 season, so maybe I should cut them some slack I guess. Probably came to a non-conference game back then.