I'll start with a couple trips I took last year:

I went to UD Arena once on a weekend Ohio was on the road. A worthwhile trip if you've never been able to make it. There are no better basketball fans anywhere in the midwest than the Flyer Faithful, and their arena is truly outstanding. The drawback to a game at UD Arena is that it's a pretty sizeable walk from anything else that you might be doing pre/post game. I'm sure Ted can add to this, but we enjoyed Flanagan's prior to the game, and my sister's old off campus favorite Kramer's after the game.


We also went up to BG for OU at BG last year. While the game was bad for Ohio, and the atmosphere is terribly lacking, the pre/post game options in town are excellent. Campus Pollyeyes (sp?) is a must visit, City Tap is a good beer spot, and the huge new BW3 is a short walk to the Stroh. Oh, and they sell beer in the arena.

I went to a Dayton game for the first time last year and loved it. You can't say enough about their fans. The game I attended was non-con against Boston U. I can't imagine what it's like for Saturday conference game. My only drawback was parking. The arena is plopped in the middle of a huge concrete parking lot slab and I still had to park at a nearby hotel and take a bus.

It may be one of the least visited MAC venues for Ohio fans, but I kinda liked Buffalo's arena. There's little campus life at UB and no uptown, but the building has a lot going for it. Great sound system, HD scoreboard, cool lighting, and it feels a lot bigger than its listed capacity.

I made a trip to the Palestra to see a Penn/Cornell game. That building is a treasure and an absolute must entry on any basketball followers bucket list. The entire concourse is a shrine to basketball, and you really get the feeling that everybody who's anybody has played under that roof. It's also really cool to see people wearing corduroy jackets and slacks (obviously successful Ivy League alumni) get loud and mouthy at the games.

Xavier's a decent trip. The surrounding area has come a long way. There is a concerted effort to build an "uptown" area right next to campus, and you're not far from the cool bars and restaurants in Rookwood, Hyde Park, and Oakley. The only big drawback to Xavier is that there are no entrances or exits other than at the front, so leaving the Cintas Center is like leaving New Year's Eve on Times Square.

I hate watching a game at the MAC Center, but the city of Kent has really been built up around the campus in recent years.

I represented us at a college fair at Duquesne's Palumbo Center a few years ago. Oldish building but deceptively big. I don't know what kind of fan support they get, but the arena could really roar with a big game and crowd. The campus is about the most compact campus I've ever stepped foot on. Built along a hillside next to skyscrapers, I have no idea how they squeezed in a football stadium.

Agreed on UD. I've been to a number of games there given that my sis is an Alumna. I've also seen NCAA Tournament games there. Spectacular basketball venue!

The MAC Center is actually a place I debated visiting this winter since we play up there on a Saturday.

I think Pittsburgh will be on the agenda at some point in the future. I have a buddy who is a Dukes graduate, and he's spoken highly of the "old gym" feel of the Palumbo Center. We thought about trying a Duquesne and Pitt double header if we could pull it off.

UD Arena is a good basketball venue and fun place to play. Thank heavens they junked out the synthetic floor that was in place for a number of years back in the day. The ball made a strange pinging noise off the dribble, and there were "dead" areas in some spots where the ball would not always come all the way back to your hand. Very strange, and slick. The Flyer fans have always been very supportive of there teams which makes for a loud, Convo like atmosphere. I would like to see our 'Cats try to schedule a series with the Flyers!

ANYWHERE but Millet/Fiami. Dark-Empty-Horrible seating 90% of the place.

Looval - Freedom Hall was great historic venue - New YUM center is pretty fantastic - Venue, Hall of Fame/Museum inside, concessions (BOURBON!), lot of easy parking nearby options, right in downtown revival/great taverns, bars, restaurants area.

I enjoyed the trip to Memphis a few years ago, mostly for the non-basketball related attractions though. I also thought the atmosphere at Central last year was great... of course it helps when you are having a season like they had.

This year I'm planning on going to the games at Cleveland State, St. Bonaventure, Akron and Kent. Maybe Buffalo, work permitting.

I haven't been to Millet since I was about 15, before Bobcat basketball was the huge obsession it is for me now. It's not a good looking venue, but what I like about it is that there's plenty of room for opposing fans to come and make noise. ;) I'm thinking hard on going there in March, and then going up to UD or XU on Saturday.

I've been to a lot of road games, but my two favorite were UNC Asheville and the Sweet 16 game in St. Louis. Asheville is a great city and their arena is nearly perfect for their program. I'd also like to watch Ohio play in more Sweet 16 games.

I like the atmosphere in Akron, but the JAR is not great. It's still one of my favorite games each year. I've also had enjoyable trips to WVU, Marshall, Kent and Robert Morris. It's harder for me to make it to road basketball games than football, but we've enjoyed almost every road trip.

Great venue to watch a game and a pretty campus but nothing spectacular (we are spoiled in that regard here in Athens). Asheville High School is a gorgeous old building though. One thing I really liked about UNC Asheville was the display of plaques for their hall of fame. It puts ours to shame. The plaques that these inductees are holding are actually mounted on the wall behind the inductees and they have a performance picture as well as pertinent facts about the athlete's performance. I showed the OU folks this but they went ahead with what I consider a very lame hall of fame listing/plaque in the lobby of the Convo.

http://www.uncabulldogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19...

UCLA's Pauley Pavilion is a large arena with good sight lines from every seat even though it probably holds about 12k. I haven't been there since the remodeling which was finished a year or two ago. But UCLA fans are still spoiled, still not particularly excited unless their team is highly ranked...and so is the opponent. It's an okay arena, at best.

The arena attached to and behind the New Orleans casino in Las vegas (saw Ohio vs Kansas, Ohio vs. Santa Clara, Kansas vs. Arizona there about 4 years ago) is a good arena. Must seat 8-10k with all seats having good sight lines. But no real character as it's not the home court of any team.


How would you all review The Convo in Athens, Ohio if you were a visitor there?

If it doesn't have to be an Ohio game, I would suggest Memorial Gymnasium at Vanderbilt. Unique arena. The area around Vandy is nice. Downtown Nashville, etc.

Memorial Gymnasium: http://www.vucommodores.com/facilities/memorial-gym.html

If you're on the West Coast and want to check out some lesser known arenas you should visit "The Kennel" at Gonzaga. It is as loud and intimidating to opponents as Cameron is for Duke.

Also, in the same conference, the other one I would want to visit is McKeon Pavilion at St. Mary's. The Geals see. To have an awesome atmosphere every time I watch them late night on ESPN, especially against Gonzaga!