Which Big East venue is the toughest place to win?
We're answering the following question for college basketball's 10 best conferences: Which venue in each conference is the toughest place to play? A number of factors, not just capacity and attendance, could affect a venue's place in the order. Where does your school fall?
Old versus new, NBA arena versus bandbox, the Big East's arenas run the gamut. But as the conference proves, a building -- no matter how legendary -- is only as intimidating as the team on its court.
10. DePaul Blue Demons: AllState Arena, opened in 1980
Former No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Mark Aguirre isn't walking through that door. And neither is anyone else. Back when DePaul played at Alumni Hall and Ray Meyer patrolled the sidelines, games against the Blue Demons were an event in Chicago. Now? It's like walking into a library. Here's all you need to know about playing at DePaul: In the last 10 years, the Blue Demons have drawn more than 8,000 fans (still 10,000 shy of capacity) only four times. DePaul will get a new arena, the McCormick Place Event Center in 2017, complete with an overhanging student section to be dubbed the Demon Deck. We'll see if the place will be demonic or docile.
Fun fact: The first WWE pay-per-view event was held at the arena (then called the Rosemont Horizon) in 1985. The Junkyard Dog topped Randy Savage to win the wrestling classic, and a fan won a contest to win a car -- a Rolls-Royce, to be exact.
9. St. John's Red Storm: Madison Square Garden, opened in 1968
This ranking ought to come with an asterisk because, needless to say, Madison Square Garden is the most famous arena in college hoops. What should be the biggest advantage in all of sports never really plays out that way for the Red Storm. In 37 Big East seasons, St. John's has won only three Big East titles. Worse in recent seasons, the Red Storm have devolved into irrelevancy, and the New York market, dying for a good basketball team to root for, simply doesn't care much about the team. Visiting teams, especially those within a drive or train, are apt to find more of their own fans than the home team's.
Fun fact: There have been three Madison Square Gardens. Before the Vanderbilt family reclaimed its property -- located near Madison Square Park -- and renamed it, the original Garden was the baby of promoter P.T. Barnum. It was called Barnum's Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome, which is kind of hard to fit on a marquee.
8. Seton Hall Pirates: Prudential Center, opened in 2007
Seton Hall lost just three games at the Prudential center last season. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
Seton Hall's arena is too nice. The Rock is easy to get to, right near the Newark Airport, and it has nice locker rooms and a pro-style look to it, all making it a nice place for opposing teams to visit. With an average of 7,000 fans filling the cavernous 18,000-seat arena, it's not exactly a tough environment. Maybe as the Pirates, winners of the Big East tournament title this year, improve, that will change.
Fun fact: City planners wanted the arena after fear arose that the New Jersey Devils would relocate to Nashville. Even as they won the Stanley Cup, the Devils failed to attract a crowd to the Continental Airlines Arena (now the Izod Center) in East Rutherford. When the Devils moved to the new building, so did Seton Hall.
7. Georgetown Hoyas: Verizon Center, opened in 1997
It's tempting to rank the Verizon Center on what it was, and its potential, because when the Hoyas were really good, and when the place is full, it's a really, really hard place to play. That just hasn't been the case lately, as Georgetown has lacked consistent success. In fact, fans of nearby opponents -- think Villanova -- can come up with tickets way too easily, their chants drowning out the home crowd's.
Fun fact: On March 26, 2006, playing in front of an extremely partisan crowd at the Verizon Center, George Mason upset UConn in the Elite Eight to become only the second double-digit seed to reach the Final Four.
6. Marquette Golden Eagles: BMO Harris Bradley Center, opened in 1988
Frankly you could take Nos. 5-7, draw them out of a hat and any order would be fine. Marquette, like Seton Hall and Georgetown, is stuck in the same place, an NBA arena that can be a great place to play or it can be antiseptic depending on the quality of the team in any given season. The Bradley Center is fine for Marquette's purposes (though not for Adam Silver's. The NBA commissioner has deemed it unworthy of an NBA team, and the Bucks are financing a new spot) but nothing about it screams exceptional. Fans are generally devoted to the team, but aside from Milwaukee weather outside in the winter, it's not exactly a scary place to visit.
Fun fact: The Bradley Center was constructed in the hopes that the city could attract an NHL team. That never happened, largely because benefactors feared relying solely on an expansion draft would produce a lousy team.
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Dana O'NeilESPN Senior Writer
We're answering the following question for college basketball's 10 best conferences: Which venue in each conference is the toughest place to play? A number of factors, not just capacity and attendance, could affect a venue's place in the order. Where does your school fall?
Old versus new, NBA arena versus bandbox, the Big East's arenas run the gamut. But as the conference proves, a building -- no matter how legendary -- is only as intimidating as the team on its court.
10. DePaul Blue Demons: AllState Arena, opened in 1980
Former No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Mark Aguirre isn't walking through that door. And neither is anyone else. Back when DePaul played at Alumni Hall and Ray Meyer patrolled the sidelines, games against the Blue Demons were an event in Chicago. Now? It's like walking into a library. Here's all you need to know about playing at DePaul: In the last 10 years, the Blue Demons have drawn more than 8,000 fans (still 10,000 shy of capacity) only four times. DePaul will get a new arena, the McCormick Place Event Center in 2017, complete with an overhanging student section to be dubbed the Demon Deck. We'll see if the place will be demonic or docile.
Fun fact: The first WWE pay-per-view event was held at the arena (then called the Rosemont Horizon) in 1985. The Junkyard Dog topped Randy Savage to win the wrestling classic, and a fan won a contest to win a car -- a Rolls-Royce, to be exact.
9. St. John's Red Storm: Madison Square Garden, opened in 1968
This ranking ought to come with an asterisk because, needless to say, Madison Square Garden is the most famous arena in college hoops. What should be the biggest advantage in all of sports never really plays out that way for the Red Storm. In 37 Big East seasons, St. John's has won only three Big East titles. Worse in recent seasons, the Red Storm have devolved into irrelevancy, and the New York market, dying for a good basketball team to root for, simply doesn't care much about the team. Visiting teams, especially those within a drive or train, are apt to find more of their own fans than the home team's.
Fun fact: There have been three Madison Square Gardens. Before the Vanderbilt family reclaimed its property -- located near Madison Square Park -- and renamed it, the original Garden was the baby of promoter P.T. Barnum. It was called Barnum's Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome, which is kind of hard to fit on a marquee.
8. Seton Hall Pirates: Prudential Center, opened in 2007
Seton Hall lost just three games at the Prudential center last season. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
Seton Hall's arena is too nice. The Rock is easy to get to, right near the Newark Airport, and it has nice locker rooms and a pro-style look to it, all making it a nice place for opposing teams to visit. With an average of 7,000 fans filling the cavernous 18,000-seat arena, it's not exactly a tough environment. Maybe as the Pirates, winners of the Big East tournament title this year, improve, that will change.
Fun fact: City planners wanted the arena after fear arose that the New Jersey Devils would relocate to Nashville. Even as they won the Stanley Cup, the Devils failed to attract a crowd to the Continental Airlines Arena (now the Izod Center) in East Rutherford. When the Devils moved to the new building, so did Seton Hall.
7. Georgetown Hoyas: Verizon Center, opened in 1997
It's tempting to rank the Verizon Center on what it was, and its potential, because when the Hoyas were really good, and when the place is full, it's a really, really hard place to play. That just hasn't been the case lately, as Georgetown has lacked consistent success. In fact, fans of nearby opponents -- think Villanova -- can come up with tickets way too easily, their chants drowning out the home crowd's.
Fun fact: On March 26, 2006, playing in front of an extremely partisan crowd at the Verizon Center, George Mason upset UConn in the Elite Eight to become only the second double-digit seed to reach the Final Four.
6. Marquette Golden Eagles: BMO Harris Bradley Center, opened in 1988
Frankly you could take Nos. 5-7, draw them out of a hat and any order would be fine. Marquette, like Seton Hall and Georgetown, is stuck in the same place, an NBA arena that can be a great place to play or it can be antiseptic depending on the quality of the team in any given season. The Bradley Center is fine for Marquette's purposes (though not for Adam Silver's. The NBA commissioner has deemed it unworthy of an NBA team, and the Bucks are financing a new spot) but nothing about it screams exceptional. Fans are generally devoted to the team, but aside from Milwaukee weather outside in the winter, it's not exactly a scary place to visit.
Fun fact: The Bradley Center was constructed in the hopes that the city could attract an NHL team. That never happened, largely because benefactors feared relying solely on an expansion draft would produce a lousy team.
