McKale Center - Home of Arizona Wildcat Basketball

Official Review by Jason Bartel, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

Since February 1973, McKale Center has been home to the University of Arizona men’s basketball team, as well as housing all of the major athletics offices and training facilities for the school. The women’s basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics teams also use McKale for most of their events. The arena was named after J.F. “Pop” McKale, who was the athletic director at Arizona from 1914-1957. He was also the head coach of football, basketball, baseball and track at times during that period.

McKale Center has a current seating capacity of 14,545, which is the second largest capacity in the Pac-12 behind Utah’s Jon M. Huntsman Center. In 2001, the court was named the “Lute and Bobbi Olson Court” after the legendary Arizona head coach and his late wife.

McKale Center has been the host site eleven times for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, two of those being West Regional semifinals and finals in 1974 and 1980.

Food & Beverage    4

McKale offers the typical food that you would expect at a basketball game: hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, pizza, chicken tenders, as well as some candy for those of you with a sweet tooth. You may have to face some long lines inside to get these though, because there are only two main concession stands, one at half court on each side. There are some carts along the rest of the inside concourse where you can get some cotton candy or lemonade, but if you're looking for dinner, then you may want to go in the middle of the first half, definitely not half time.

Before you go through the doors, there are some stands set up along the outer concourse of the arena that are run by local Tucson businesses. Here you can find some amazing Mexican food from El Charro, or some other local favorites including barbeque and Asian stands. This concourse is outside the doors, but you are safe to go out there during the game because your tickets get checked on the ramps that lead up to that concourse area.

The food overall is very good, and as an extra bonus, if you are a student at the university, you can charge all the food inside onto your meal plan. The University of Arizona is currently a Coca-Cola school, and offers the same basic food and sodas at all of their sports facilities including Arizona Stadium and Hi Corbett Field.

Atmosphere    4

Even though nearly every single game is sold out, there is still an odd feeling of indifference during most of the game. There is no bad seat in the house, but to get the better seats, you have to contribute enormous amounts of money to the alumni association and the university. This leads to most of the arena being filled with people that are 60+ years old and that don't feel the need to cheer during most of the game. With the basketball program returning to its elite status this year, the cheering has gotten a little better, but it is still hard to get the whole crowd going for most of the game.

The student section (Zonazoo) is located behind the north basket and goes from the floor to the roof, which is perfect for intimidating the opponent when they are going that direction in the second half. The pep band being right behind the basket is perfect to get chants started, and the cheerleaders located on the other side of the court get the rest of the crowd involved.

The four-sided video and scoreboard that they put in above the court in 2001 was definitely a welcomed addition to the arena, and it shows every controversial call that the refs make, usually leading to a loud chorus of boos from the crowd. There are also various other scoreboards located on every side of the arena giving different player statistics throughout the game, which is nice when you want to see how your favorite player is doing. The logo at center court is facing the west side, with the Wildcats sitting on the southeast side, and the visiting bench on the northeast side.

Neighborhood    4

The arena itself is located on campus, which may lead you to believe that there are not very many interesting spots to meet up before or after the game and grab some food. But there are several places within walking distance of McKale, which is good since it is nearly impossible to park close without having to pay a fortune. There are places on the east side of campus, which is where McKale is, such as Trident, Dirtbags, and 1702, which is a great pizza place. Right across the street from the arena is Zendejas's, named after the legendary Wildcat kicker Max Zendejas. On the other side of campus is the shopping center at University Boulevard, which has any kind of restaurant and shop that you could possibly want, all within two blocks of each other. Parking there can be troublesome though as well.

Fans    3

As I talked about earlier, men's basketball games more resemble a retirement home than a lively college atmosphere for the most part. The students that line up outside four hours before tipoff are extremely knowledgeable about the current team, as well as the history of Wildcat basketball. As you make your way up the student section though, it turns more into people that have no idea what basketball is and only go to games to either say they went or just to be seen.

Some chants right now include:

A foul on an opposing player - point at him and yell "you you you you you you yoooouuuu ooonnn you, that's who"

If it's an And 1 situation add "hey, hey, hey, hey, no no no no, no no no no, no no no no, no no no no don't touch me"

At the beginning of each half before the opposing team scores: every dribble "boink", every pass "pass", every shot "brick". Also, the entire crowd stays standing for the beginning of each half until the other team scores.

For made Arizona free throws - "Swoosh, go Cats"

For missed opposing free throws - "Nice shot buddy"

When an opposing player gets their fourth foul - "Four, four, four, four"

When an opposing player fouls out the band plays "Another One Bites the Dust."

If the game is close, and there is less than ten minutes left in the game, McKale is absolutely electric. Other than that, you only have the bottom half of the student section cheering and trying to get everyone else involved, and that's mostly just the pep band. If the university wasn't trying to squeeze every possible penny out of basketball games, I feel like this would be one of the greatest places to watch a basketball game in the country. The seats around the court are so close but go to waste because only the people with ridiculous amounts of money can even consider sitting in them.

Access    2

Parking for basketball games can be a problem if you don't have a parking pass to park in the arena lots or garage, but it is possible to find free parking on local streets within five blocks if you don't mind a short walk to get to the game. But it does mean you are risking leaving your car on a curb, and this can be troubling especially south of 6th Street, which is not such a great neighborhood.

The bathroom lines are just like the concession lines, better get there during game action if you don't feel like waiting in line forever. There are very few bathroom options along the inside concourse, leading to lines that spill out into the concourse, making it a little harder to get around the arena, especially at halftime and after the game.

Return on Investment    3

It does cost you a lot of money to get in, and the food prices are typical of what you see at sporting venues. But the majority of the people that go to these games are either donors that love giving money to the university and getting the tickets as a side benefit, or students who can pay just over $100 to get passes to every athletics event including men's basketball games. This price is for the entire school year, which while I was a student there from 2007-11, was a fantastic way to go to games.

For regular single game tickets, prices start at $20 for most of the games, and $35 for the premium games (UCLA, Arizona State, and any preseason ranked team coming to Tucson). It's not bad considering the product that the Wildcats typically put out on the court, but these seats are limited, and may not even be available for some games.

Extras    3

The arena is also home to the school's Hall of Champions, which is a great place to go in and look at the great history the athletics program has had at the University of Arizona. The average sports fan that enters this section of McKale Center will instantly recognize a lot of the names and faces that are portrayed here, as Arizona has produced a ton of highly successful athletes over time in a wide range of sports. Also, all of the championship banners from all sports are hung in the rafters of McKale, and a few retired jerseys including Sean Elliot and Steve Kerr.

If you're lucky, the "Ooh-Aah" man will come out onto the court during a media timeout in the second half to lead the crowd in U of A chants. He is absolutely fantastic, but has had some recent health issues and isn't there for every game like he used to be.

Final Thoughts

McKale Center is definitely a must see for the west coast college basketball fan since it is one of the largest arenas in the Southwest and has a lot of history. It isn't usually listed in the list of those classic venues that are at other major basketball schools, but any college basketball fan would have a good time here if they are willing to pay the money to get in.

Also, there are some more renovations that are planned for the arena in the near future as soon as the football stadium renovations are completed, which should make it an even better place to go watch some college hoops.