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NCAA Basketball: Ranking the nation’s 25 best home-court advantages

By Brian Rauf

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - JANUARY 09: Lagerald Vick #24 of the Kansas Jayhawks pumps up the crowd prior to the start of the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Allen Fieldhouse on January 09, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KANSAS - JANUARY 09: Lagerald Vick #24 of the Kansas Jayhawks pumps up the crowd prior to the start of the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Allen Fieldhouse on January 09, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 09: A general view of the tip off between the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels at Dean Smith Center on March 09, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 09: A general view of the tip off between the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels at Dean Smith Center on March 09, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

24) North Carolina – Dean E. Smith Center

“The museum” of college basketball is certainly filled with plenty of history. Seven championship banners hang in the rafters along with the numbers of countless legends like Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Phil Ford, and Tyler Hansbrough.

Of course, playing in a museum doesn’t lend itself to many raucous atmospheres. That’s not to say the Dean Dome can’t get loud – it most certainly can. But this home-court advantage only ranks No. 25 because of the “wine and cheese” reputation of games at the Smith Center, which is partly because of the expectation that comes with playing a blueblood like North Carolina. It feels more like an NBA atmosphere than a college atmosphere.

Some of that is due to the split-up student section. A portion of the students sits under one basket, while the rest in the upper corner of the lower bowl on the other end of the arena. UNC fans are passionate, but splitting up their most passionate fans certainly dampens the atmosphere.

Still, since it opened in 1986, UNC has had plenty of success there. They have had five seasons in which they went undefeated in the arena and have only had one year (2009-10) in which they lost more than three home games in a single season. That’s good enough for inclusion on this list.

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