Busting Brackets
Fansided

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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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 15: The Utah State Aggies bench reacts after a three point basket against the Fresno State Bulldogs during a semifinal game of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center on March 15, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 15: The Utah State Aggies bench reacts after a three point basket against the Fresno State Bulldogs during a semifinal game of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center on March 15, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

14) Utah State – Dee Glen Smith Spectrum

The Dee Glen Smith Spectrum is a place that hardcore basketball fans know well but often flies under the radar nationally – but Utah State’s dominance there hasn’t and shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Over the past 20 years, the Aggies have won just below 90 percent of their home games and have only dropped 16 non-conference games at home.

Go to a game there and it’s easy to see why. The crowd can be deafening and the student section – called the HURD – is among the best and loudest in the country. Seats also run all the way to court level, so fans are sometimes less than an arm’s length away from the action on the court.

Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall summed the Smith Spectrum up best following a game in 2010.

"“Utah State has 4,000 student tickets and they make some type of impression on the visiting team and it’s just a party. It is one heck of a party. It’s the best I’ve ever seen. In many, many years I’ve been at Duke and Kentucky and UConn and Syracuse and it’s clearly the best I’ve ever seen in terms of atmosphere.”"

With that atmosphere and their winning ways, albeit against mid-major competition, the Smith Spectrum was a very easy inclusion on this list.

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