best college basketball stadiums

[trajanJ]

I was at the KU/ISU game in Hilton about 6 or so years ago when ISU won and it was a great atmosphere. I was at OU/ISU a couple of years ago in Hilton and it was boring. I've been to tons of games at the Phog and it gets pretty loud in there but when Mizzou comes to town it's a totally different atmosphere than any other game. It gets so loud you can't even talk to the person next to you. So I think it depends on the game you go to.

[ianoconnor]

me too!!! thats awesome!! i had a chance to see Lebron front row. That was pretty sweet. I worked for UD couple of years!

Yea, I remember when I was in high school and Lebron's HS team played Alter at UD Arena.

[mplscyclone]

I've got to add the following to the list:

Assembly Hall (Indiana University)
The Palestra (Penn)

I want to see McArthur Court, especially since it's on the endangered species list as Oregon wants to build a new arena....

[mplscyclone]

I was at the KU/ISU game in Hilton about 6 or so years ago when ISU won and it was a great atmosphere. I was at OU/ISU a couple of years ago in Hilton and it was boring. I've been to tons of games at the Phog and it gets pretty loud in there but when Mizzou comes to town it's a totally different atmosphere than any other game. It gets so loud you can't even talk to the person next to you. So I think it depends on the game you go to.

There's a little bit more in the atmosphere when we play KU at home.

As far as Mizzou goes, yeah its loud but some of it's fans suck. I've seen the fanbase boo their own team off the court after blowing a lead....

[Balrog]

About this time last year, there was a "Classic" basketball replay that featured the Clones, and I think Oklahoma, at Hilton. Johnny Orr was the coach at the time and the pre-game of course featured Johnny's introduction and the place went absolutely NUTS. I have never heard a basketball game on television that was so loud. You had trouble hearing the audio "the play-by-play". I am not kidding you, I was stunned. I saw games in Hilton from the day it opened into the early seventies, left Iowa for work, and returned in the late eighties. I have seen games at Hilton, on and off for the last fifteen years or so, and when I saw that replay I couldn't believe how crazy that atmosphere was. I thought to myself that this truely was what Hilton magic was, and I am dissappointed to say that I have never experienced a crowd like that in Hilton in the early seventies, or since in the ninties, and I've seen many a game in there against Kansas with Fizer et al. I don't know if it will ever be like that "replay" again, but I certainly hope it will. It was crazy and loud beyond anything I have seen or heard anywhere else, including Illinois and at Phog.

Go Cyclones

[Klubber]

Illinois is lame nothing special at all

Totally agree. I grew up going to games there. Their arena is a seventies design shared by Purdue and others where the arena looks like a space bubble. That design also doesn't do much for acoustics either. The noise level there can't touch Hilton Coliseum's.

[cyclonenum1]

About this time last year, there was a "Classic" basketball replay that featured the Clones, and I think Oklahoma, at Hilton. Johnny Orr was the coach at the time and the pre-game of course featured Johnny's introduction and the place went absolutely NUTS. I have never heard a basketball game on television that was so loud. You had trouble hearing the audio "the play-by-play". I am not kidding you, I was stunned. I saw games in Hilton from the day it opened into the early seventies, left Iowa for work, and returned in the late eighties. I have seen games at Hilton, on and off for the last fifteen years or so, and when I saw that replay I couldn't believe how crazy that atmosphere was. I thought to myself that this truely was what Hilton magic was, and I am dissappointed to say that I have never experienced a crowd like that in Hilton in the early seventies, or since in the ninties, and I've seen many a game in there against Kansas with Fizer et al. I don't know if it will ever be like that "replay" again, but I certainly hope it will. It was crazy and loud beyond anything I have seen or heard anywhere else, including Illinois and at Phog.

Go Cyclones

This is absolutely dead on correct.

Hilton in the 70s was a morgue.

Hilton in the 80s was an event. It was THE PLACE to be. You got there early to soak it up. For certain you wanted to be there when Johnny made his entrance with fists-a-pumping. You came knowing that you were going to impact the game. It didn't matter who you were playing. You knew your role was to lift the Cyclones to perform to their highest possible level and to totally disconcert the other team's coach and players. Add in a little referee intimidation and you had a powerful impact...an impact that was later named "Hilton Magic". You stayed at halftime to greet Ed Gagnier with a rousing "Hi Ed!" and see if someone could shoot 5 for 5 to win a new car "From Benson Motors!". After the win, many of us (usually in the thousands) stayed to greet Johnny when he came back out from the locker room to do the post game show with Pete and Eric. It was special!

In the 90s winning became somewhat "old hat". Early in the decade we lost the master showman Johnny Orr and his replacements just did not fire people up in the same way. The style of play was less exciting and although there was some great success on the court it happened without much impact from the Hilton faithful.

In this decade, success on the court has waned and it appears that Hilton Magic has become a cliche'. People come late and leave early. They sit on their hands waiting for the team to do something worthy of cheering.

[CycloneErik]

This is absolutely dead on correct.

Hilton in the 70s was a morgue.

Hilton in the 80s was an event. It was THE PLACE to be. You got there early to soak it up. For certain you wanted to be there when Johnny made his entrance with fists-a-pumping. You came knowing that you were going to impact the game. It didn't matter who you were playing. You knew your role was to lift the Cyclones to perform to their highest possible level and to totally disconcert the other team's coach and players. Add in a little referee intimidation and you had a powerful impact...an impact that was later named "Hilton Magic". You stayed at halftime to greet Ed Gagnier with a rousing "Hi Ed!" and see if someone could shoot 5 for 5 to win a new car "From Benson Motors!". After the win, many of us (usually in the thousands) stayed to greet Johnny when he came back out from the locker room to do the post game show with Pete and Eric. It was special!

In the 90s winning became somewhat "old hat". Early in the decade we lost the master showman Johnny Orr and his replacements just did not fire people up in the same way. The style of play was less exciting and although there was some great success on the court it happened without much impact from the Hilton faithful.

In this decade, success on the court has waned and it appears that Hilton Magic has become a cliche'. People come late and leave early. They sit on their hands waiting for the team to do something worthy of cheering.

One of the best posts I've read in quite some time! You've nailed it on the head. Again.

[ISUboi12]

This is absolutely dead on correct.

Hilton in the 70s was a morgue.

Hilton in the 80s was an event. It was THE PLACE to be. You got there early to soak it up. For certain you wanted to be there when Johnny made his entrance with fists-a-pumping. You came knowing that you were going to impact the game. It didn't matter who you were playing. You knew your role was to lift the Cyclones to perform to their highest possible level and to totally disconcert the other team's coach and players. Add in a little referee intimidation and you had a powerful impact...an impact that was later named "Hilton Magic". You stayed at halftime to greet Ed Gagnier with a rousing "Hi Ed!" and see if someone could shoot 5 for 5 to win a new car "From Benson Motors!". After the win, many of us (usually in the thousands) stayed to greet Johnny when he came back out from the locker room to do the post game show with Pete and Eric. It was special!

In the 90s winning became somewhat "old hat". Early in the decade we lost the master showman Johnny Orr and his replacements just did not fire people up in the same way. The style of play was less exciting and although there was some great success on the court it happened without much impact from the Hilton faithful.

In this decade, success on the court has waned and it appears that Hilton Magic has become a cliche'. People come late and leave early. They sit on their hands waiting for the team to do something worthy of cheering.

I'm not a go crazy kind of guy, but at least I know my role to sit up in the rafters and just enjoy the game.

Perhaps the money game is allowing people like me sit in prime seating and that equals cheering only when the team shows life.

[PGreen ISU '92]

Here is a link to Dan Wetzel’s 2001 cbssportsonline article rating us as #10 in the country:
http://cbs.sportsline.com/b/page/pressbox/0,1328,4165358,00.html

It’s still the same arena. We’re still the same fans. Just need to start winning a little and the magic will return. I thought the UC-Davis finish on Friday was magical!

[hawksuck75]

I've got to add the following to the list:

Assembly Hall (Indiana University)
The Palestra (Penn)

I want to see McArthur Court, especially since it's on the endangered species list as Oregon wants to build a new arena....

I went to Mac court last night. I sat right behind the media table so it was pretty sweet. The Ducks lost in OT, but the fans and more inportantly students are right on top of the action. BTW the student section at UO is alot worse then ISU in terms of language and harassing the refs, but they are extremly loud the enitire game.

All in all the stadium is really old and and cramped but it just oozes with tradition and prestiege.

[aeroclone]

I went to Mac court last night. I sat right behind the media table so it was pretty sweet. The Ducks lost in OT, but the fans and more inportantly students are right on top of the action. BTW the student section at UO is alot worse then ISU in terms of language and harassing the refs, but they are extremly loud the enitire game.

All in all the stadium is really old and and cramped but it just oozes with tradition and prestiege.

Oh don't worry much about that, the PC police via Cyclone Alley are working hard to make sure that we have the most polite and well mannered student section in the country. That group has been propped up under the guise of increasing student involvement at games, but I really feel that it has done quite the opposite and that it is actually being used as a means for regulating student behavior.

[cybsball20]

I have been to alot of really cool college basketball venues, unfortuantely only seen games at a handfull...

[cycopath25]

I've stepped on the center court of Cameron Indoor. It wasn't during a game or anything, but it sent chills down my spine. It was cool too look up at the banners of the past greats. The stadium is older, nad very nostalgic.

[hawksuck75]

Yea I get your point. The only thing I wish for would be seeing the students get court side seats. It really makes the stadium as a whole alot louder. We only had about 8,000 fans there last night, but it felt alot louder because about half were students