The best and worst college basketball arena, it’s a question always being asked in college basketball.
Basketball, along with football, is one of the NCAA’s two main money-producing sports. There are 352 Division I college basketball programs, and not all of these are created equal.
Below are five of the best college basketball arenas, and following are five of the worst.
THE BEST – Cameron Indoor Stadium – Duke
Speaking of “blue bloods,” you can’t begin to have a conversation about college basketball without mentioning Duke, and that includes Cameron Indoor Stadium, the basketball team’s home since 1940. Despite being built over 80 years ago, the building doesn’t show signs of aging, as several renovations throughout the years have ensured that Cameron remains a state-of-the-art facility and one of the greatest in college basketball.
The atmosphere of the stadium is one of the greatest you will see anywhere, with the “Cameron Crazies” creating a unique experience for any visiting fan. Nothing, however, compares to the experience of attending a game against Duke’s most hated rival, North Carolina.
The Duke-North Carolina rivalry is arguably the greatest rivalry in college basketball, and attending a game between the two teams at Cameron (or even just watching on television) is something that everyone should experience once, even if you’re not a fan of either team.
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THE WORST – Dean Smith Center – UNC
I understand that this is sure to raise some eyebrows, and no, I am not a Duke fan. However, the “Dean Dome” is a venue that thrives on its history, while at the same time being undeserving of the praise it garners.
Opened in 1986, the arena has been home to many famous games, including a game every year since against Duke, in what is one of the biggest rivalries in college basketball. However, the arena, itself, is somewhat ugly, and it just seems unbefitting of a program with the prestige of North Carolina.
Between the contrasting colors of the Tar Heel Blue seats and the brown stairs and an awkward seating arrangement, the Smith Center is one of the most awkward and ugly looking arenas in Division I, which is honestly a shame given the pedigree of the program.
THE BEST – JMA Wireless Dome – Syracuse
The JMA Wireless Dome will always be known to Syracuse fans by its former name, the Carrier Dome. The dome also serves as Syracuse’s football stadium, and it has set several attendance records for college basketball games.
The atmosphere at the dome is one of the greatest in college basketball, with a student section and fanbase that are passionate about their team, especially when the team was in the Big East, with rivalry games against teams like Georgetown and Connecticut regularly drawing 25,000 fans. Even today, games against Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, and old Big East foes like Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Notre Dame bring massive attendance figures that other programs could only dream of.
Add in the presence of Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim, and the Orange have routinely had good teams since the mid-1970s. While not being a traditional “blue blood” like some teams later on the list, Syracuse still lays claim to one of the best arenas in the NCAA.
THE WORST – Welsh-Ryan Arena – Northwestern
Based on sheer looks alone, Welsh-Ryan Arena is one of the ugliest venues in Division I College Basketball. When the building is filled with fans, it is harder to see the ugliness, but therein lies part of the problem; the arena is rarely ever full, and even when it is, there are usually more fans wearing the color of the away team than there are wearing purple.
Northwestern has never had a strong program, and have consistently been one of the worst Power Six schools (SEC, ACC, Pac-12, Big 12, Big Ten, and Big East) in basketball over the last 50 years, so the fact that fans don’t show up to games shouldn’t be much of a surprise. At the very least, however, the school could make some renovations to make the venue more appealing to fans; if the fans aren’t going to watch good basketball, they should be rewarded in some way for attending.
THE BEST – Allen Fieldhouse – Kansas
Named after Hall of Fame head coach Phog Allen, Allen Fieldhouse is one of the most intimidating arenas for any visiting college basketball team to play in. Home of the Jayhawks, Kansas actually had a 69-game winning streak in Lawrence between 2007 and 2011, and had a separate 57-game win streak that ended in 2017.
Opened in 1955, the Phog, as it is known, has played home to massive upsets and amazing games alike. Additionally, the Jayhawk fans are known to make the Fieldhouse a raucous environment, and have been known to do whatever they can to help the Jayhawks win.
THE WORST – F&M Bank Arena – Austin Peay
The most recently completed arena on the list, the F&M Bank Arena opened in July of 2023, and will serve as the home of the Austin Peay Governors. A glorified high school gymnasium, the arena features the basketball court set far away from the seats and set on a hockey rink.
The new arena was created to replace the Winfield Dunn Center, which was, itself somewhat ugly, but Austin Peay has still somehow managed to move backwards. Instead of playing in a solid, if unspectacular, gymnasium, the Governors are now playing in a hockey rink where the boards and glass stay up during the games.
The arena works well as a hockey rink, and it looks fine as one, but the empty space between the boards and the court just looks weird. If it’s not the ugliest arena in college basketball, it’s certainly up toward the top of the list.
THE BEST – Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall – Indiana
Assembly Hall was opened in 1971, and its first game also saw, somewhat fittingly, the debut of the late Hall of Famer Bob Knight. The hall has seen its fair share of great games and historic upsets, including one in 2011 where the Hoosiers upset the visiting Kentucky Wildcats (whose Rupp Arena could have made this list, too), who were ranked #1 in the country, off of a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Christian Watford.
The arena is certainly one of the older ones that are currently in use in Division I, but it has only recently begun to show its age. In recent years, there have been a couple of safety concerns, but given the renovations the hall has seen throughout the years, the building seems to be ready and safe to use for the immediate future.
When Assembly Hall is packed with fans, there’s not much in college basketball that can compare to the sea of red, with little specks of the color of the visiting team. Students are known to be rowdy, and given the history of the team’s rivalries with Kentucky, Purdue, and Illinois, it is a worthy home to the Hoosiers.
THE WORST – Moby Arena – Colorado State
Opened in 1966, the Moby Arena has hosted the Colorado State Rams ever since. The worst part of the arena is the court, which, in all fairness, did get better last year; the court has two ram horns on either side that spiral out from the paint, and up until 2022, the horns were a much darker shade than the rest of the court.
Outside of the court, the seating arrangement is awkward, too, with fans in the corner sitting farther back from the court but still on the level of the court, instead of gradually getting higher (the seats do get higher the farther back from the front you get, but every front-facing seat is at the court level, which creates a weird viewing situation for anyone sitting further back on the corners of the court). Additionally, the bleachers at either end of the court cut in almost to the baseline, and they also rise extremely slowly, before rising at a normal level after the first walkway through the stands.
THE BEST – The Palestra – Penn
While Penn is not a traditional powerhouse today, the Palestra is one of the most important and recognizable arenas in college basketball history. Built in 1927, the Palestra has hosted Penn basketball ever since, and it hosted Temple basketball between 1955 and 1984 and part of the Big 5 Tournament every year since 1955, as well.
A renovation in 2000 meant that the building could continue to be used up to the present day, and the arena is going on 100 years of use in a few years. Additionally, the atmosphere in the stadium is great, especially when there is a Big 5 game going on.
Today, the building is somewhat outdated, but the history behind the building means that the Palestra is still one of the best venues for college basketball.
THE WORST – Icardo Center – Cal State Bakersfield
Opened in 1989, the Icardo Center has hosted Cal State Bakersfield’s home games off-and-on ever since. The Roadrunners have called the arena their permanent home since 2014, and the arena is in desperate need of a renovation.
The arena has a healthy dose of blue, with the entirety of the court being blue except for the paint, which is stained wood, and the seats are all blue, too. It is built like a high school gymnasium, but even then, it is uglier than most high school gymnasiums that I have seen.
The court and the seats are fine (even if they are somewhat ugly), but the walls are what make the court even worse. Blank off-white walls with sponsorships everywhere turn the arena from something mediocre, but passable, into something that is almost undoubtedly the worst in college basketball.
