23) Grand Canyon – GCU Arena
Grand Canyon has become one of college basketball’s trendiest schools over the past half-decade largely due to the student section, called the Havocs, creating one of the most fun atmospheres in the country.
Welcome to GCU Arena 😏😈 pic.twitter.com/kJASaJ7CEi
— GCU Havocs (@GCUHavocs) January 12, 2018
That’s fun and extremely intimidating, especially for teams in the WAC.
It has also helped put Grand Canyon’s basketball program on the map, thanks in no small part to viral videos of the Havocs doing, well, Havocs things. They’ve been relevant even though they’re entering just their seventh season in Division I and have more momentum than any other program that is relatively new to the highest level of college basketball because of it.
Grand Canyon consistently sells out their 7,000-seat arena, which has already been expanded from its original 5,000-seat capacity because of the fan interest.
The opportunity to play for a rabid fan base has helped GCU with recruiting and on the transfer market, all of which has helped them be more successful than many thought they would be at this point in the program’s development. They have yet to finish lower than third in the WAC regular-season standings, but this crazy atmosphere has yet to help them in a conference title.