Taco Bell Arena
From NCAA Wiki
| |
| Facility Statistics | |
| Location | Boise, Idaho |
| Former Names | N/A |
| Broke Ground | 1980 |
| Opened | 1982 |
| Owner | Boise State University |
| Operator | |
| Tenants | N/A |
| Surface | |
| Seating Capacity | 12,380 |
| Seating Chart | {{{Seating Chart Link}}} |
| Cost (USD) | {{{cost (USD)}}} |
"Home Sweet Home" for Boise State basketball is Taco Bell Arena. Recognized as one of the finest basketball arenas in the West, Taco Bell Arena has become one the toughest places for Bronco opponents to pick up a win.
Built in the spring of 1982 at a cost of $17.5 million, Taco Bell Arena (formerly known as The Pavilion) seats 12,380 people. In the last 20 years, Taco Bell Arena crowds have witnessed exciting college basketball from Boise State, as well as some of the top ranked teams in the country.
Taco Bell Arena hosted first and second round games for the NCAA Men's Division I National Tournament on seven different occasions (1983, 1989, 1992, 1995,1998, 2001, and 2005). From victories by top-ranked Virginia and Ralph Sampson, to UCLA and Tyus Edney's improbable 4.8 second coast-to-coast lay up to beat Missouri in 1995, to Hampton's shocking upset of second-seeded Iowa State in 2001, Boise has become one of the most popular and respected NCAA regional sites.
In March of 2002, Taco Bell Arena hosted the NCAA Women's West Regional Finals. Taco Bell Arena also hosted another major women's collegiate championship in April of 2000 with the NCAA Women's National Gymnastics Championships. Taco Bell Arena also hosted three conference championship tournaments while Boise State was a member of the Big Sky Conference. In 1994, Boise State won three straight tourney games on its home floor to win the Big Sky crown and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in seven years.
In 20 years of action in the Taco Bell Arena, Bronco basketball teams have averaged just under 12 wins a season and have picked up victories better than 75 percent of the time.
In 14 of those 20 seasons, Boise State has won no fewer than 10 games a season at home, including a perfect 13-0 mark in 1997-98. That marked the first time a Bronco team won every home game at Taco Bell Arena.
In Boise State's last four seasons as a member of the Big West Conference, the Broncos led the league in attendance. During the 2000-01 season, the Broncos averaged 8, 448 fans per game to rank 57th nationally. In 1999-2000 Boise State averaged 7,657 fans per game to rank 67th nationally, while in 1998-99, Boise State averaged 7,988 fans per game to not only lead the league but rank 59th in the country. In 1997-98, a Big West best 7,040 fans per game turned out at Taco Bell Arena to rank the team 70th in the nation.
Between the Bronco basketball team and fans, Taco Bell Arena comes to life, making life hard on opponents and providing a "Home Sweet Home" for Boise State.
