Top Places to Watch College Basketball

• Laley23

  

  ...according to Mens Health.
  
  Decent list, but certainly some places that I would argue.
  
  http://thebestlist.menshealth.com/node/2023
• CinciX12

  

  Yeah, as much as I despise Uk, you certainly have to put Rupp ahead of anything New Mexico State and Iowa State has.
• Iliketurtles

  

  My top 5 would have these 5 in it and you could put them in any order. Cameron, Rupp, Allen, Dean, and Assembly. Also sorry but Hinkle Fieldhouse and the Carrier Dome should be on this list somewhere.
• reclegend22

  

  Rupp (for tradition and the Blue Mist), Assembly Hall ("Welcome to Indiana basketball"), Allen Fieldhouse (because Rock Chalk Jayhawk couldn't sound any more epic if it were hymned in falsetto at Nou Camp), Hinkle (Jimmy Chitwood vs. Muncie Central) and Cameron Indoor (there's nothing like it. Truly).
  
  And, though it's not on a college campus, MSG is the Mecca.
  
  I've got no idea why Pauley is in the top hundred. The Pavilion might as well only seat baby epidermis. Soft.
• Laley23

  

  Pauley sucks. Ive never been there, but I know it sucks.
  
  I am very biased (lol), but my top 5 is:
  
  1. Assembly Hall (Indiana, not that dump in Illinois!)
  2. Allen Fieldhouse
  3. CIS
  4. Hinkle
  5. Rupp
  
  For as great as their programs are...UNC and UCLA have some mediocre places to watch a game.
• CinciX12

  

  Lol Hinkle fieldhouse my ass!
  
  And thats all I'll say about that
• Iliketurtles

  

  Another stadium I love is Vandy's I dont feel like looking up the name but I just love the setup for it.
• killer_ewok

  

  Wha? No Carrier Dome?
• Laley23

  

  CinciX12;536836 wrote:Lol Hinkle fieldhouse my ass!
  
  And thats all I'll say about that

  
  Im biased in Hinkle cause I watch a ton of HS games there. It is unreal for Indiana HS Hoops. Ive only seen 2 Butler games there and it is 10x as loud and crazy for HS. It is by FAR the best HS bball arena there is.
• Hb31187

  

  Figured the Breslin Center would crack the top 10
• OQB

  

  My living room, in the comfort of my home!
• holdingout

  killer_ewok;537113 wrote:Wha? No Carrier Dome?

  
  I've been to the Carrier Dome to see some games. The place is a dump.
• Classyposter58

  

  Hb31187;537449 wrote:Figured the Breslin Center would crack the top 10

  
  Great place to watch a game
• Azubuike24

  

  Rupp is very overrated unless it's a huge game. If it's a huge game, there isn't a better atmosphere. Memorial Gym in Nashville is very good. Bud-Walton Arena can absolutely rock during a huge game as well. The same can be said for The Pit in New Mexico.
• hoops23

  

  The Dean Dome deserves to be there just because of the facility and banners. When you walk into the Dean Dome, you feel like a champion. It's probably the feeling the dead get out of going to heaven, imho.
• reclegend22

  

  I've been in the DES Center and the most distant thing I felt like was a champion. But it is an impressive gymnasium to walk into as a fan of college basketball. There's tons of history there, many involving my team and the greatest rivalry in our sport. So it was pretty cool from that standpoint. I'd like to see a game there. I just don't think the atmosphere on game day (at least from word of mouth and from my television) is worthy of a top five "greatest place to watch a game." DES Center is notoriously mausoleum-like. It's a tomb.
  
  But I agree with the point made above by hoops.
• swamisez

  

  Went to Duke Carolina last year at the Dean Dome, and despite Carolina having a lackluster season, the atmosphere was great.
  
  Very loud, at tip off probably the loudest I have heard an indoor sporting venue (second only to a carolina hurricanes playoff game).
  
  The only knock I have on the Smith Center is that it hasn't aged well. The Omni in Atlanta looked a lot like the Smith center, and if memory serves the Omni was torn down after being open for less than 30 years
• reclegend22

  

  ^^Well, then there you go. A perspective from someone who has been there.
  
  However, there must be a reason many of college basketball commentators and personalities over the years have labeled Carolina as a cavern. And it's more than visible at home from your sofa. My guess is that the emphatic atmosphere you witnessed during your Dean Dome visit was more a result of arch-rival Duke being in town than the building's commonplace volume level.
• Laley23

  

  You cant judge places when you talk about the big game, nor for the bottom feeder games. The best indication is for a conference foe who is below average. The top places are rocking during any conference home game.
• CinciX12

  

  Conference home games are for sure the best way to evaluate.
  
  Like for Xavier for instance just because I am most familiar with us, the level of noise for the Butler and Florida game is not what should be evaluated because its a few standard deviations away from the mean (guess what I'm studying for). So it makes sense for us to look at a game like against a Dayton, St. Louis, or Richmond.
• swamisez

  

  If Laley's opinion is the judge,
  then Carolina must be put on the bottom rung. The issue with the Dean Smith Center most nights is that there are so many blue blood Carolina alums in their 80's still hauling their oxygen tanks into the building on gameday that it can't really be considered a raucous venue.
  
  However, consider the fact so many die hard Heel fans in their 80's still make all efforts to go and support their Tar Heels. Some of those fans were around in 57 when they beat Wilt. Respect due in that case.
• killer_ewok

  

  holdingout;538303 wrote:I've been to the Carrier Dome to see some games. The place is a dump.

  
  Well, that settles it then....
• reclegend22

  

  Lol.
  
  I always enjoy watching games (from home; I've never been) that are played in the Carrier Dome. There's usually a very good atmosphere there, and it's a historic pillar of college basketball. There are few things that are more representative of college hoops than the sea of orange that swallows your television on Big Mondays throughout the winter.
  
  Another place that is underrated is the Greensboro Coliseum, the home of the Grand Daddy of all conference basketball tournaments. If not for its beauty, the history, tradition and unmatchable resume of classic battles elevates the Coliseum to mythic status among basketball holy places.
• cats gone wild

  Azubuike24;539276 wrote:Rupp is very overrated unless it's a huge game. If it's a huge game, there isn't a better atmosphere.

  Truth. That's what you get when the fanbase is a bunch of older people/alum.