Allen Fieldhouse Named Most Intimidating Arena In College Basketball
By Joel Wagler
Beware of the Phog! According to ncaa.com, Allen Fieldhouse, home court to the Kansas Jayhawks, is the loudest, most intimidating arena in college basketball. This should make it official.
The arena, which opened in 1955, is named after legendary Kansas coach, the inventor of college basketball coaching, Forrest “Phog” Allen.
Over the years, the Jayhawks have been very hard to beat in the “Phog”. According to KUAthletics.com, Kansas is 703-168 (80.7% winning percentage) in Allen Fieldhouse. Roy Williams won 201 games there in 15 seasons, and Bill Self, 164 in eleven seasons.
Coach Allen himself only won 9 games in the building that bears his name.
Self’s teams have been nearly invincible at home in the last 11 seasons. Kansas has two more Big 12 Conference regular season championships (10) than losses (8) in Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas has led the Big 8, then the Big 12, in attendance 27 straight seasons.
The other arenas on the list were Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke), Carrier Dome (Syracuse), Gallagher-Iba Arena (Oklahoma State), and the Pit (New Mexico).
The Jayhawks also made the list for the Best Basketball Traditions for their haunting Rock Chalk Chant. Rock Chalk came in second behind the Hawk mascot of St. Josephs that is never allowed to stop flapping during the course of all their basketball games.
Kansas is one of the most tradition rich basketball schools in the country. The inventor of the game, James Naismith was the first KU coach, and Phog Allen was the first famous basketball coach. The school ranks second on the all-time list of wins with 2,108, behind only Kentucky.
Both Kentucky and North Carolina, third on the all-time list of wins, can trace much of their historical success to Kansas and Phog Allen. Both Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith both played for Coach Allen at Kansas.
Hopefully, the fans of Kansas, and teams Bill Self puts on the floor, will continue to make life miserable for opponents in Allen Fieldhouse.
Beware of the Phog! Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, GO KU!