Remember when we had orange/yellow seats and a fallout bunker façade?
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"She's a beaut, Clark" -- @MVCRothstein
- Thread starter Jason Svoboda
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I think that’s a fake account tho 
I’ll still take it!I think that’s a fake account tho
I think that’s a fake account tho
Yeah, it is a parody that only does MVC stuff. It's a good follow.
A take that is quite believable really…
Exactly. The list is fairly on-point. You could nit pick a few upwards and downwards, but overall it’s pretty close. We, MSU and UNI have the best arenas.
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Should note that if you're not following Roth himself, do that, too.
But the running joke is he only covers the Northeast but he drops a ton of great nuggets.
Nice to be at the top. Hulman Center really looks nice on TV. Getting rid of the orange seats was a must to have a decent arena; but the scoreboard upgrade and ribbon boards really made it a top tier basketball arena.
Here are my rankings
1.Indiana State - Not even a homer pick. not a bad seat in the house, chairbacks with cushions, great lighting and media boards. Top notch facility.
2. Belmont - I really like their arena. A little on the smaller side but overall looks great on TV, has character and fits their program.
3. Northern Iowa - Nothing too crazy about this McCleod (we always seem to play well there) But it fits UNI perfectly and is a solid basketball arena
4. Missouri State - As far as facilities goes, this is at the top of the MVC. But that place has turned into a morgue lately. If they can average 6k+ this place moves up on my rankings. But it is almost too big.
5. Illinois State - Redbird Arena reminds me a lot of Hulman Center a few years ago. I think that if they get a wrap around ribbon board and other new scoreboards this could be a top tier arena. The bones are there, they just need the upgrade.
6. Southern Illinois - Banterra honestly looks goofy to me. Not a fan of the bleachers behind the baskets and the dead spots in the corners don't look great. This is mid-pack strictly for size and atmostphere. SIU has embraced it for whatever reason, so i'll give them credit.
7. Drake - They've had some nice upgrades the last few years. Still kind of "high schoolish" but overall it looks nice on TV and it doesn't take much to make it looked packed. Overall not a bad arena for a small private school.
8. Murray State - The dead spots in the corners KILL this place. Not a bad mid-major arena and the crowd noise there is legendary but an upgrade and reconfiguration would go a long way for the racers.
------there is a significant gap here------
9. Bradley - Off campus municipal arena that is extremely outdated. It was a great home for them back in the 2000s but they desperately need to get a new arena. They should have something similar to what Belmont has. This is the best of the worst just because of it's size and the fact they can fill it up in the stars align.
10. Valparaiso - High school. Everything about this arena screams high school. I will give it credit because there is something enduring about it when they had good crowds in the 2010s (I live in the area and went to a few games). All they need is something like Loyola's Gentile arena and it'll be a nice fit for the MVC
11. Evansville - Never been there so can't speak on their amenities and location - which I hear is pretty good. But it's a hockey arena with horrible sight lines. Fans are far from the action and there is only about 79 of them. yeah it's nice looking but it's a square peg in a round hole.
12. UIC - By far the worst arena. The closer you look, the worst it gets. Seats are cramped, bad sight lines, stage on one end, horrible scoreboards, etc. It's just bad.
Here are my rankings
1.Indiana State - Not even a homer pick. not a bad seat in the house, chairbacks with cushions, great lighting and media boards. Top notch facility.
2. Belmont - I really like their arena. A little on the smaller side but overall looks great on TV, has character and fits their program.
3. Northern Iowa - Nothing too crazy about this McCleod (we always seem to play well there) But it fits UNI perfectly and is a solid basketball arena
4. Missouri State - As far as facilities goes, this is at the top of the MVC. But that place has turned into a morgue lately. If they can average 6k+ this place moves up on my rankings. But it is almost too big.
5. Illinois State - Redbird Arena reminds me a lot of Hulman Center a few years ago. I think that if they get a wrap around ribbon board and other new scoreboards this could be a top tier arena. The bones are there, they just need the upgrade.
6. Southern Illinois - Banterra honestly looks goofy to me. Not a fan of the bleachers behind the baskets and the dead spots in the corners don't look great. This is mid-pack strictly for size and atmostphere. SIU has embraced it for whatever reason, so i'll give them credit.
7. Drake - They've had some nice upgrades the last few years. Still kind of "high schoolish" but overall it looks nice on TV and it doesn't take much to make it looked packed. Overall not a bad arena for a small private school.
8. Murray State - The dead spots in the corners KILL this place. Not a bad mid-major arena and the crowd noise there is legendary but an upgrade and reconfiguration would go a long way for the racers.
------there is a significant gap here------
9. Bradley - Off campus municipal arena that is extremely outdated. It was a great home for them back in the 2000s but they desperately need to get a new arena. They should have something similar to what Belmont has. This is the best of the worst just because of it's size and the fact they can fill it up in the stars align.
10. Valparaiso - High school. Everything about this arena screams high school. I will give it credit because there is something enduring about it when they had good crowds in the 2010s (I live in the area and went to a few games). All they need is something like Loyola's Gentile arena and it'll be a nice fit for the MVC
11. Evansville - Never been there so can't speak on their amenities and location - which I hear is pretty good. But it's a hockey arena with horrible sight lines. Fans are far from the action and there is only about 79 of them. yeah it's nice looking but it's a square peg in a round hole.
12. UIC - By far the worst arena. The closer you look, the worst it gets. Seats are cramped, bad sight lines, stage on one end, horrible scoreboards, etc. It's just bad.
I was very impressed with Belmont's arena. No bad seats. It's size really lets the crowd become a factor.