Top Five College Basketball Home Court Advantages
The West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 85-69, on Tuesday which means the Jayhawks have not won in West Virginia in four years. The WVU Coliseum has become a house of horrors for Kansas in recent years. Which college basketball teams have the best home court advantage?
5. Carrier Dome (Syracuse Orange)
The Carrier Dome is one of the most unique places in college basketball. The Orange play their basketball games within a football arena. Syracuse places the court on one end zone and moves seats on the field to create seating for basketball games. It has the nickname the “Loudhouse” and there’s no surprise.
The Carrier Dome has the highest capacity of any home college basketball arena in the country. It holds the record for the highest attended on-campus basketball game at 35,446. Syracuse has the option to move the court farther out and increase attendance even more if wanted.
Not only are the fans loud, but playing in a dome that large messes with opposing players perspectives. Many opposing teams claim it is harder to shoot in the Carrier Dome because it is so large.
4. McCarthey Athletic Center (Gonzaga Bulldogs)
The home court advantage held by the Bulldogs tends to get forgotten because Gonzaga isn’t as popular as teams like Duke, Kansas and Indiana. Nevertheless, it’s a place that opposing teams dread to play.
The McCarthey Athletic Center is by far the newest arena on this list, with it opening in 2004. It may not have the history that the other courts have, but it’s loud, rambunctious, and tough to play in.
Not only is it the newest arena, but it is also the smallest. It only holds 6000 fans, but has similar advantages to Cameron Indoor Stadium. Part of Gonzaga’s success at home may be because the Bulldogs play in the MAC, but there’s no doubt it’s a place to be feared.
The Bulldogs are 162-13 since the McCarthey Athletic Center opened, statistically the greatest home court advantage in Division 1 college basketball.
3. Allen Fieldhouse (Kansas Jayhawks)
Some people may disagree with Allen Fieldhouse being No. 3 on this list, thinking it should even be No. 1.
The Jayhawks are one of the oldest basketball programs in history with the Allen Fieldhouse court being named after James Naismith, the inventor of basketball and the Jayhawks’ first head coach. Allen Fieldhouse is not the largest arena, only holding 16,300, but gets very loud. The fans and students are some of the loudest bunch in the sport.
ESPN The Magazine ranked it as the loudest arena in college basketball. The fans are known for their “Rock Chalk” chant among other traditions before and during the game.
The height of the home court advantage came between 2008-2011, when the Jayhawks won 69 straight home games including a National Championship in 2008.. Kansas is 750-109 all time at Allen Fieldhouse, one of the highest winning percentages in basketball.
2. Assembly Hall (Indiana Hoosiers)
Assembly Hall is a similar atmosphere to Cameron Indoor Stadium. Despite having almost twice the capacity to Cameron Indoor Stadium, Assembly Hall has the intimate old gymnasium feel to it. It’s a historic arena and the state of Indiana lives and breathes by College Basketball.
The arena has a unique architecture where the courtside seat levels are very steep going up to the top row. For those on the top row it feels almost as if they are on top of the court. As a result, the noise levels in the arena are multiplied to sound like there are much more than the 17,000 fans at the game. The students reside behind the baskets and are known for their distractive signs and chants when opposing players are shooting free throws.
The Hoosiers boast a 529-102 record all time in Assembly Hall and in 2015-2016, the men's and women's teams combined to go 33-0 at home.
1. Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke Blue Devils)
Was there any question who was going to be at the top of this list?
Cameron Indoor Stadium is an intimate and prestigious arena that houses the Cameron Crazies. It can only hold just over 9,000 people during a basketball game, but Duke has made that an advantage. The Blue Devils’ student section surrounds the court and during inbounds plays the students can sometimes touch the opposing player.
Unlike some arenas where the students are placed behind a basket or even in the mid to upper levels, there is an intimacy between fans and players. The layout has seemed to help the Blue Devil fans get inside the head of the opposing players as under Coach Mike Krzyzewski, Duke is 474-59 at home.
