NCAA Basketball: 30 best arena atmospheres in college hoops

From gameday preparations to court stormings, there are a lot of factors that go into an NCAA basketball game atmosphere. Here is a look at 30 of the best.

There are a ton of truly spectacular atmospheres in NCAA basketball. Scattered all across the country and in numerous conferences, elite atmospheres are everywhere. Whether this is due to tremendous team success, an outstanding program history, or a historic building, top gameday experiences are everywhere. That is the compilation of this list was, to be completely honest, impossible.

After spending weeks researching arenas, tweaking my list, going over it with several other writers, and tweaking it some more, this is what I eventually settled on. Although I know that this is bound to create debate and more than likely arguments, it was a really fun piece to work on during the offseason. There are truly a ton of exciting college basketball atmospheres in the country and that is part of what makes the sport so incredibly special. The passion that goes into cheering for a team unites (and tears apart) people everywhere and that is part of what makes college sports so intriguing year after year across many sports.

In regards to how I went about selecting the atmospheres for this list and then ordering them from there, here is some, not all, of the main criteria that I looked for:

• Current relevance: Has the program been successful as of late? If not, has the fanbase been consistently supportive in still pushing the team to much better performances at home compared to on the road?
• Historical relevance of the program: Has the program been successful for a number of years and has that been sustained to an extent into today?
• Historical relevance of the building: Is the arena that the program plays at historically significant due to longevity or major events since opening?
• Fanbase/Student Sections: How passionate are the fans and how rowdy does the crowd get not only for big games but for every team that comes to town?

Other considered: Ohio State, Cincinnati, Creighton, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Notre Dame, Michigan, Colorado, Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin, etc. (there were a lot, trust me)

NOTE: Some of the pictures used in this piece are not taken at the arena being discussed. This is due to the fact that there are not photos of every venue in the system that we are allowed to use. For these schools, I tried to select general photos of fans of that program from neutral-site locations.