# Classic College Hoops Arenas **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 5, 2008, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055 "2008-04-05T07:34:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/1 "2008-04-05T07:34:02Z")
As we go into today’s NCAA Final Four Basketball Championships, I was thinking about classic college basketball arenas. I’ve been a huge fan of UCLA basketball for as long as I can remember. I remember watching Bill Walton going 21-22 against then Memphis State to win the NCAA championships. So, it’s great to see the rematch between UCLA and Memphis. I’ve always wanted to go and see a game at Pauley Pavillion, so this year I went down to L.A. and saw UCLA take on the mighty Oregon State Beavers, eventual owners of the record setting 0-18 Pac 10 record. I figure that this was probably my one chance to see Kevin Love in a UCLA uniform. I went and saw the Beavers because I’m a poor cheap bastard and the ticket was less than face value on Stub Hub. Although next time, I’ll splurge for a more expensive ticket because I ended up spending a couple of hundred bucks on gas, hotel rooms, and delicious L.A. fast food. Pauley is showing her age, but what a fucking awesome arena. It has crappy access, bench seats, hardly any bathrooms, and almost no concession stands. The basketball floor is oddly distant from some of the seats. But it is home to 38 fucking national championship teams (Hoops, volleyball, and gymnastics)! John Wooden said that he was able to bring the young prospect Lew Alcindor to the brand new Pauley and convince him to come to UCLA (it probably didn’t hurt that UCLA was coming off back to back national championships). So, has anybody been to an awesome historic college basketball arena? Go Bruins! ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/2 "2008-04-05T16:02:19Z")
I’ve always wanted to go see a Butler game at the site of _Hoosiers_ , [Hinkle Fieldhouse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinkle_Fieldhouse) . I’ve been to a number of games at Notre Dame’s Joyce Center, which used to be called the Athletic & Convocation Center. It is being renovated now. ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/3 "2008-04-05T23:16:36Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] So, has anybody been to an awesome historic college basketball arena? [/QUOTE] I’m an NC State alum, and my time their coincided with the men’s basketball team moving out of historic [Reynolds Coliseum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_Coliseum) and into the ESA (now the RBC center – it’s where the basketball team, as well as the Carolina Hurricanes play). It may not have much fame outside of the state of NC (or at least ACC country), but Reynolds is definitely one of the historic arenas of the sport. It was the original home of the ACC tournament, from 1954-1966. It was the largest arena in the Southeast when it was built. I think it, along with Everett Case, ushered big-time college basketball into NC, where it has developed into the state religion. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/4 "2008-04-06T04:15:35Z")
Well, I’ve taken in plenty of games at Rupp Arena (check my location) and while I’ve never seen a game in Memorial Coliseum, I have been in it too many times to count. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/5 "2008-04-06T21:03:22Z")
Fuck! ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/6 "2008-04-07T11:37:35Z")
I’ve been to Michigan State’s Jenison Fieldhouse many times. Even though basketball has moved to the Breslin Center, Jenison still gets plenty of use with gymnastics and wrestling and indoor track. It’s got a lot more soul than Breslin and back in the Earvin Johnson days the place would absolutely ROCK. One of the charms of the old place was that the press box was high on one side of the court, and the official scorer was high on the other. At halftime, if you looked up you could see a basket being pulled on a wire from the scorer’s table to the press box. I suppose now it’s all done by a computer connection but at some point that was a high-tech information system. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/7 "2008-04-07T12:21:43Z")
I was visiting my cousin who went to Duke one winter. We walked over to the athletic complex to see all those Cameron Crazies camped out to get tickets. This was at like 10pm and we just walked into the arena. It was dark and there wasn’t a game going on, but it was still cool. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/8 "2008-04-07T12:42:12Z")
I live a 10 minute from Gallagher-Iba Arena, the “Madison Square Garden of the Plains.” We launched ESPNU, and CBS sportline named it the number 1 college basketball arena in the country. > [@CBS Sportsline](#): > > **1. Gallagher-Iba Arena** , Oklahoma State (13,611) – The ultimate combination of history, uniqueness, location and excitement, Gallagher-Iba has even survived a recent expansion to remain the nation’s best facility to catch a game. How much tradition does the old barn out where the wind comes sweeping down the plains have? The first game, in 1938, featured Henry Iba’s Cowboys besting Phog Allen’s Kansas Jayhawks 21-15. The maple playing surface is the building’s original and it has not only seen countless great games, it has seen practice sessions where Iba literally invented concepts such as motion offense and man-to-man defense. > Iba also encouraged the creation of one of the first student sections, where everyone wore identical orange suit coats and rang cowbells. It is truly college hoops hallowed ground. Before expansion, when Gallagher-Iba held just 6,381 fans, this was easily the loudest arena in the nation. A well-planned expansion called “Raise the Roof” changed none of the ambiance, kept all the original seats and sight lines and somehow increased the noise. The renovation of the building, once called the “Madison Square Garden of the Plains,” has opened up the experience to even more of the passionate, loyal and down-to-earth Cowboys fans that have made this college basketball’s best for 63 years. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/9 "2008-04-07T16:51:38Z")
[QUOTE=Darth Sensitive] I live a 10 minute from Gallagher-Iba Arena, the “Madison Square Garden of the Plains.” We launched ESPNU, and CBS sportline named it the number 1 college basketball arena in the country. [/QUOTE] I was so glad when they “raised the roof” on that place. I remember watching Big 8 / Big 12 games on TV and the roof was so low that I almost felt claustrophobic even in my own living room! Of course, living in Jayhawk country, I’ve seen many a game in Allen Field House. You pretty much need earplugs when K-State or Missouri come to town. “Beware The Phog!” ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/10 "2008-04-07T19:41:43Z")
[QUOTE=Shoeless] I was so glad when they “raised the roof” on that place. I remember watching Big 8 / Big 12 games on TV and the roof was so low that I almost felt claustrophobic even in my own living room! Of course, living in Jayhawk country, I’ve seen many a game in Allen Field House. You pretty much need earplugs when K-State or Missouri come to town. “Beware The Phog!” [/QUOTE] I went to a KU game when they played my alma mater Nebraska. I think going along with the visiting team was the only way I could’ve gotten in. The eerie “Rock Chalk Jayhawk” The hands forming the “wheat field” The arms going up and down during free throws NU’s never had a basketball team, so this experience made me a life-long KU fan. ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK! Please let this be the year!! ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-college-hoops-arenas/444055/11 "2008-04-08T03:37:45Z")
Lotta respect for KU - want to go see a game up there if I can. They finally hit a 3 to send the nc to overtime.