Photo Gallery: Barns of the Big 12The start of the Big 12 Conference basketball season is just around the corner.
What better time, then, to take a look at the basketball arenas around the league?
From the old — Oklahoma State’s Gallagher-Iba is in its 67th season — to the new — Missouri’s Paige, er, Mizzou Arena opened just this year — the Big 12 has it all.
The league’s biggest barn is Texas’ 16,755-seat Erwin Center, while its smallest is Baylor’s 10,284-seat Ferrell Center.
One is named for a wrestling coach (the Gallagher in Gallagher-Iba), another for a supermarket chain (Texas Tech’s United Spirit).
And then there’s Kansas University’s storied Allen Fieldhouse, which ranks second in size and age, but, its fans say, is second to none in all other aspects.
Barns of the Big 12 North
Colorado
Coors Events Center
Capacity: 11,064
Year opened: 1979
Court: Russell “Sox” Walseth Floor
Next KU visit: Jan. 15
Did you know?: The center originally was named the CU Events/Conference Center before a $5 million gift from the Adolph Coors Foundation in 1990. … CU’s first sellout came in a 72-69 victory over Nebraska on Jan. 22, 1983. … The largest crowd (11,363) in Events Center history was KU’s 85-75 victory over the Buffs on Jan. 22, 2001.
Iowa State
James H. Hilton Coliseum
Capacity: 14,092
Year opened: 1971
Next KU visit: Jan. 12
Did you know?: The Los Angeles Times said ISU had the fourth-best home-court advantage in the nation. … Hilton boasts theater-style cushioned seats. … A record crowd of 15,000 saw ISU beat Iowa, 97-94, in 1971. … A lower concourse area will house a complete mobile television trailer only a few feet from the basketball baseline.
Kansas
Allen Fieldhouse
Capacity: 16,300
Year opened: 1955
Court: James Naismith Court
Did you know?: The largest crowd in fieldhouse history (17,228) witnessed a 77-66 Kansas victory over Kansas State on Mach 1, 1955 — the first game in fieldhouse history … In the mid-1980s, KU prohibited crowds larger than capacity. … Seven crowds of 17,000 or more fans have shoehorned into the fieldhouse, the most recent in 1974. … This is the 50th year for the fieldhouse.
Kansas State
Fred Bramlage Coliseum
Capacity: 13,500
Year opened: 1988
Next KU visit: Feb. 9
Did you know?: The 1994 Kansas-Kansas State game drew a Bramlage-record 13,762 fans, but 14,000 shoehorned in for Garth Brooks concerts in 1993 and 1996. … Laid end to end, the bench seats would stretch 3.1 miles. … Bramlage was renovated in 2000-2001. The $2.5 million project included concourse upgrades, a new basketball floor and a video scoreboard.
Missouri
Mizzou Arena
Capacity: 15,061
Year opened: 2004
Court: Norm Stewart Court
First KU visit: March 6
Did you know?: Mizzou Arena originally was named Paige Sports Arena before an alleged scholastic scandal involving the namesake forced a name change. … The arena has 26 private suites and 172 toilet compartments. … It was constructed with 104,074 bricks.
Nebraska
Bob Devaney Sports Center
Capacity: 13,595
Year opened: 1976
Next KU visit: Feb. 5
Did you know?: Renovations in 2000 added a Husker Hall of Honor and a Husker Walk of Fame. … Devaney also is where NU’s gymnastics, swimming and diving, track and field and wrestling teams compete. … A record crowd of 15,038 turned out for the NU-Oklahoma State game in 1981. … A record-low crowd of 3,571 witnessed NU-Montana that same season.
Barns of the Big 12 South
Baylor
Ferrell Center
Capacity: 10,284
Year opened: 1988
Court: Paul J. Meyer Sr. Court
Next KU visit: Jan. 25
Did you know?: The Ferrell Center is named for Charles Robert Ferrell, who died in 1967 during his sophomore year at Baylor. … The Ferrell crowd record is 10,496 for the 2002 Texas game. … Baylor claims its basketball locker rooms are some of the “finest in the country,” with customized wooden cabinet lockers.
Oklahoma
Lloyd Noble Center
Capacity: 12,000
Year opened: 1975
Next KU visit: Feb. 21
Did you know?: OU became the first school in the Big 12 Conference to have a basketball video board when it installed one in 1997. … The largest paid crowd (13,431) saw OU beat Texas-Pan American on Dec. 29, 2003. … Noble Center underwent a $17.1 million expansion prior to the 2001-2002 season. The work added two full-sized practice courts (one for the men, one for the OU women’s team) and new offices.
Oklahoma State
Gallagher-Iba Arena
Capacity: 13,611
Year opened: 1938
Next KU visit: 2006
Did you know?: Originally Gallagher Hall, OSU’s arena was named for legendary OSU wrestling coach Ed Gallagher. … Hoops coaching legend Henry Iba’s last name was added when the arena was remodeled in 1987. … A $55 million renovation in 2000 doubled the venerable barn’s size. … The floor still is the original white pine that was installed in 1938. … OSU opened Gallagher Hall with a 21-15 victory over Kansas. Coaches for that thriller were Iba and Kansas’ Phog Allen.
Texas
Frank C. Erwin, Jr., Events Center
Capacity: 16,755
Year opened: 1977
Next KU visit: 2006
Did you know?: In addition to UT men’s basketball games, the Erwin Center has been the site of such events as George Strait concerts, a WWE wrestling spectacle and private banquets. … The single-game attendance record of 16,837 is for a 94-81 victory over then-No. 4 Wake Forest on Jan. 13, 2004. … UT matched that mark on Feb. 28, 2004, against Texas Tech. … The arena’s namesake was a longtime member of the UT Board of Regents.
Texas A&M
Reed Arena
Capacity: 12,500
Year opened: 1998
Next KU visit: 2006
Did you know?: A new court design was unveiled this season, with a “T” and a star superimposed on a map of Texas at center court, replacing the traditional A&M logo. … Reed boasts a parquet wood floor manufactured by the same company that provided similar floors to NBA teams. … A school-record crowd of 12,733 saw A&M fall to Texas, 95-87, on Feb. 8, 2003. … Reed Arena replaced 8,600-seat G. Rollie White Coliseum, the “Holler House on the Brazos.”
Texas Tech
United Spirit Arena
Capacity: 15,098
Year opened: 1999
Next KU visit: Feb. 14
Did you know?: The United Spirit Arena is named for United Supermarkets, a 68-store retail chain headquartered in Lubbock, Texas, that contributed $10 million for the arena. … The arena boasts 44 “terrazzo double T’s” — the Texas Tech logo — on the concourse-level floor. … The arena is constructed of more than 1,287,000 bricks.
