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| - Of course I love the Badgers, but we're talking about the venue here people.
Walking into the Kohl Center is like walking into an NBA arena. Its great in that it's basically brand new (1998) but it most definitely lacks that "college basketball arena" feel. The place seats 17,190 people (just ~1,000 less than the Bucks at the Bradley Center) for Buckys sake!
Now let's talk about the placement of the student section, another important feature of college venues. Pretty bad in my opinion. Of course a place built in the late 90's and primarily funded by donations (named after US senator Herb Kohl who donated $25 mil of his own cash) more than likely isn't going to put student placement first. You've got to have your rich alumni sitting lengthwise along the court and also have tons of luxury boxes. Surprisingly to me (as far as the building structure itself), the Kohl Center is considered one of the most raucous home courts in the Big Ten and in all of college basketball and boasted a 38 game home winning streak in 2001 (no doubt thanks to whiskey-filled student section and upper deck).
However, of course the place gets loud, has new top notch equipment for the prospective and current athletes, and has a really cool blown glass decoration as you walk in the main gate. If you can get suite tickets, do it. Its all you can drink bottled beer and food (chicken fingers, pizza, variety of dips, chips, and veggies.
After visiting games at older stadiums (Illinois, Duke, Northwestern) I can only imagine seeing a Badger hoops game (I've seen other events) at the old Field House.
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