Here are my favorite Big Ten arenas ranked from 8-14.
14. Bryce Jordan Center (Penn State) – Their atmosphere is horrible when you have to curtain off your upper deck as a Power 5. They have a very big arena but it does not look like it’s made for basketball. It looks relatively nice though.
13 – Value City Arena (Ohio State) – This stadium is large, resembling an NBA stadium on a college campus. I really don’t understand why you would make the arena that big for a college team. Other then that, nothing really stands out from the aesthetic.
12 – Welsh-Ryan Arena (Northwestern) – Another arena I’ve been to. Very nice arena… for a mid-major. Very nice staff, modern, and open and easy to get around. However, the atmosphere is terrible.
11 – Pinnacle Bank Arena (Nebraska) – Just your regular arena, however, I like the glass windows on the side. I would recommend making the tops of your sections straight in front of the glass windows, which would make it look much better in my opinion. I also like how it has the 3rd deck as opposed to many other college arenas.
10 – Rutgers Athletic Center (Rutgers) – Rutgers, you had one good season at home where the atmosphere was insane, and if you keep it up the RAC will definitely move up. Along with the atmosphere aspect, it looks like a nice arena. It’s relatively small for a Big Ten arena, but it’s understandable since they moved to the Big Ten from the Big East in 2014.
9 – Crisler Center (Michigan) – Another arena I’ve been to, Crisler is very modern. The staff members were super nice even though I was in an IU jersey and candy stripes. They have very comfortable seats as well.
8 – State Farm Arena (Illinois) – This is just a really cool bowl style stadium, and the Orange Krush is great. I definitely love its dome! The exterior of this stadium is very neat and looks amazing. You don’t see that everywhere.
To conclude my 8-14 ranking of the Big Ten Basketball arenas I would like to announce that my 1-7 ranking will be released next month!
Photo Credit: Michael Graves Architecture & Design
