Devaney Center

Official Review by Bill Kintner, Stadium Journey Special Correspondent

Named after longtime athletic director and football coach Bob Devaney, the Bob Devaney Sports Center has been home to Nebraska basketball since it opened in time for the 1976-77 season. In the past 35 years, the Huskers have amassed over 400 victories in the building, making it a fairly strong home court advantage for the Huskers. The Devaney Sports Center’s days are numbered as a basketball arena. In 2013, the new 15,000 seat Pinnacle Bank Arena will become the new home of Husker Basketball.

Food & Beverage    3

There's nothing too fancy, but the menu includes Wimmer's Hot Dogs, Valentinos's Pizza, pretzel poppers, soft serve ice cream, BBQ sandwiches, frozen slush drinks and a healthy Husker stand that features salads. Hot dogs are $3, popcorn $3 and nachos, (you guessed it) are $3. A large Pepsi will run you $4.

Atmosphere    4

From tip off until the first basket the fans remain on their feet. At the first Nebraska basket the fans let loose with a collective roar of approval. The students seated at both ends of the court stood most of the game and cheered. They are not the largest, craziest, or most innovative student section, but they are respectable.

There are two large HuskerVision replay screens, hustle stat boards and digital message boards at the ends of the court high above the seats as well as good sound and lighting systems to help make a fairly impressive game day atmosphere.

The fans enter the seating bowl from the concourse through portals and they either walk up or down to their seats. Most of the seats are nice soft cushioned chair-backs with five to seven rows of wooden bleachers at the top. Since there are no luxury boxes they did a great job of getting all 13,595 seats relatively close to the action.

Neighborhood    5

The Bob Devaney Center is located on campus, which is located in the city of Lincoln, just north of the Husker's football home, Memorial Stadium. You can find about any type of food or drink you could want in Lincoln. The Haymarket area of Lincoln is a several block area loaded with restaurants, bars and coffee shops.

One that I found to be decent is Buzzard Billy's Armadillo Bar and Grillo, which is a sports bar with a Southwestern themed menu. Another is Brewsky's, which is a standard sports bar, with decent food and reasonable prices. Lazlo's Brewery and Grill is exactly what the name implies, a bar and grill. The food, prices and atmosphere are very good. All three are located in the Haymarket area.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Jake's Cigar Bar a favorite of sports fans that enjoy fine imported cigars. With a fine offering of cigars, spirits and plenty of TVs, it is worth stopping in at the corner of 13th and O Streets.

Just take a stroll around Lincoln and enjoy this nice college town and discover all kinds of fun things to do.

Fans    4

This is a solid college atmosphere that includes die-hard fans wearing red, cheerleaders, a strong pep band and students cheering on their team. This is not Kansas, so it is not loud for two straight hours, but it gets loud when things are close and the fans are appreciative of good play by either team. The fans are also hospitable to visiting fans and it is not that way at a lot of Big 10 venues.

Access    4

The Devaney Center is located just a few blocks northeast of Memorial Stadium. There are several lots that charge $5 and there is plenty of street parking if you don't mind walking a few blocks.

The restrooms are clean, but get a little tight during halftime. Other than that, there are no problems to report regarding access.

Return on Investment    4

The tickets prices are pretty reasonable for Big 10 basketball. Tickets cost $5-$20 for some non-conference opponents and $20-$35 for top Big 10 opponents.

So for $30 a fan could get a ticket, and park his car. Plus you could still get a hot dog, popcorn, and a soda. Relative to similar schools, that is a pretty decent bargain.

Extras    2

Devaney gets a star for the scoreboards, which offer all the information that a fan could want and a star for the men's restrooms which have urinal troughs, which are always fun and efficient.

Final Thoughts

The Bob Devaney Sports Center is a decent venue that works well as a basketball arena. It is certainly a little dated and it doesn't have all the amenities of newer arenas, but I like it better than any NBA arena and there are no bad seats.