College basketball insider ranks the Top 10 places to play in Division I hoops
One of the things that makes college basketball great is the home-court advantage. Some arenas are full of fans that make it almost impossible to win when you get on the court. These are the arenas that fans of the sport want to get out to see a game.
College basketball insider Andy Katz ranked the Top 10 venues in the sport. Katz, who covered college basketball for ESPN for 18 years has worked every Final Four since 1992. Formerly the president of the United States Basketball Writers Association, Katz has the credentials to come up with a list like this.
The Top 10 college basketball venues
Here are the Top 10 places to play or see a college basketball game, according to Andy Katz:
Andy Katz was sure to include several college football blue bloods, including Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana, and North Carolina. Notably, of those blue bloods, all of them are still dominant forces in the sport with the exception of Indiana. It had been five seasons since Indiana made it to the NCAA Tournament when they made and lost in the first round for the 2021-22 season. It speaks to the passion of the fans that Assembly Hall is still such a great environment.
The only mid-major who made the list is Gonzaga. The Bulldogs have been a dominant force in college basketball since Dan Monson took over in 1997. In the more than two decades that Mark Few has coached Gonzaga, the Bulldogs have never missed the NCAA Tournament and fans love their team.
Schools like Purdue, Arizona, Arkansas, and Texas Tech have all continued to consistently put great products on the court in conferences that deeply care about basketball. It makes sense that they’d be able to create some of the best home court environments.
Andy Katz also listed several honorable mentions, including, Iowa State, Michigan State, Illinois, Providence, Creighton, San Diego State, BYU, and Saint Mary’s.