Basketball Notebook: Allen Fieldhouse vying for title of toughest venue in college basketball

By Matt Tait Aug 8, 2016

Nick Krug

Fans in the student section salute the Jayhawks' 12th-straight Big 12 title following their 67-58 win over Texas Tech, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.

During the past couple of weeks, the college basketball crew at ESPN.com asked America to determine the most difficult venue in college basketball by voting in a series of online polls.

First, they broke it down by conference, seeking initially to identify the toughest arena in each of the top 10 conferences.

To no one’s surprise, Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse ran away with the Big 12 crown, earning 50 percent of the vote, the highest percentage of any of the winners.

Now it’s on to the next round, where ESPN is asking the nation to decide which of those 10 arenas is the toughest.

The 10 winners by conference were: Allen Fieldhouse (Big 12), Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium (ACC), Indiana’s Assembly Hall (Big Ten), New Mexico’s WisePies Arena (Mountain West), St. Bonaventure’s Reilly Center (Atlantic 10), Arizona’s McKale Center (Pac-12), Kentucky’s Rupp Arena (SEC), UCOnn’s Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (AAC), Villanova’s Pavilion (Big East) and BYU’s Marriott Center (WCC).

Through 4 p.m. Monday, Allen Fieldhouse led in total votes (2,750) and was tied at the top with Cameron Indoor Stadium at 21 percent. Rupp Arena (2,387, 19 percent) and Assembly Hall (2,166, 17) rounded out the top four. None of the other six venues had reached the four-digit mark.

No timeline was given for the poll, which is currently live on ESPN’s college basketball page.

Tip set for KU-UK

The second leg of the SEC-Big 12 Challenge that will pit blueblood powerhouses Kansas and Kentucky against each other for the second consecutive season officially has a time and a network.

Kansas, which knocked off Kentucky in overtime at Allen Fieldhouse in the challenge last season, will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, for a 5 p.m. tipoff, Jan. 28 in the Wildcats’ home gym. The game will be televised by ESPN.

Other match-ups in this year’s SEC-Big 12 challenge include: West Virginia vs. Texas A&M, Oklahoma vs. Florida, Kansas State vs. Tennessee, Texas Tech vs. LSU, Iowa State at Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas, Baylor at Mississippi and TCU vs. Auburn.

The Big 12 owns a 20-10 advantage in the head-to-head challenge with the SEC and has won the showdown in each of the first three years.

Former Jayhawk Wayne Selden signs with Memphis Grizzlies

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.