NCAA Tournament Courts

[Billy B]

Not to mention that different colored lanes/sidelines for regionals would sometimes clash with the blue center court logo that the NCAA uses. And there is no chance that they'd change the color of their logo for each site.

[altosax29b]

I agree with BillyB and Drew22. While the court is very boring and could use some more color (I'm a huge fan of colors and big center logos like at Kansas) but I think the courts they have now in the tournament are a good idea. If they would go back to how it used to be, it would have NIT feel to me and thats not what they would want. The new courts are just simple, not taking anything away from the game. You turn on the channel of the games and you instantly know its the tournament. But a also agree that the Final Four should be a special court with a theme of the local city and everything.

They could at least vary the colors a little. Like the east region has blue font, west region red, south gold, something along those lines.

Buildings host multiple regions. For instance Greensboro had UNC, Vermont, Alabama, and Creighton from the Midwest. They also had Duke, Lehigh, Xavier, and Notre Dame from the South Region.

Yeah, I know. I was thinking about the regional semi-finals and finals.

[bucknut40]

Very unusual, considering the courts are not just standardized, but the arenas are sterilized. All the banners had to come down from the Garden ceiling for the weekend NCAA tournament.

My link

Yeah its crazy Dayton has alot of ads around the court and on scoreboards and they all have to be covered up

[NickSixers]

Every year, the NCAA contracts for freshly made courts to be installed at its tournament sites. Only the nine from the first weekend of games, from the First Four in Dayton to the opening rounds in Portland, Ore., are used again — disassembled and kept in storage in Salt Lake City and Amasa, Mich.

The floors created for the regionals and the Final Four are in mint condition, annually produced anew.

After March Madness fades, NCAA Tournament floors find new life

Per that link, the floors for regional finals and Final Four are new each year. It would be easy for them to have the court made for the Boston East Regional Final with the parque pattern. Nice touch by the normally sterile NCAA.

I feel that the standard courts have been good for nothing else than eliminating the need to use large decals on the court. In recent years, its been proven that the decals become slippery and can cause player injury. In the first few years of the standardized court design, I believe the NCAA placed small decals with the host's logo in bounds on the court, but has recently moved all decals and city name out of bounds on the baseline.

Any move that helps player safety is good with me.

Regarding the removal of ads in arenas, its to protect the NCAA's corporate partner. For example, Coke would not be pleased to pay 8+ figures for its partnership to have large Pepsi ads in some arenas. Interestingly, they've had 2 different "collectable cup" designs in recent years. Buildings that pour Coke had a large-ish Coke ad on the cups, while Pepsi buildings had the same cup with no soda branding.

Its all about the $$$$$$$.

[slapshot]

The NCAA has been doing this more many years, and not just in basketball. The playing surfaces for all sports are to be as neutral as possible, with the only markings being description of playoff round, sport, location, and NCAA logo. Any playoff that is NCAA-sanctioned is treated the same way, regardless of venue.

I don't have a problem with the NCAA "homogenizing" the playing area. The different sites are for the fans, not to give anyone a home advantage. Make them as neutral as possible, and let the play dictate who wins, not field, ice or court conditions.

[altosax29b]

Every year, the NCAA contracts for freshly made courts to be installed at its tournament sites. Only the nine from the first weekend of games, from the First Four in Dayton to the opening rounds in Portland, Ore., are used again ? disassembled and kept in storage in Salt Lake City and Amasa, Mich.

The floors created for the regionals and the Final Four are in mint condition, annually produced anew.

After March Madness fades, NCAA Tournament floors find new life

Per that link, the floors for regional finals and Final Four are new each year. It would be easy for them to have the court made for the Boston East Regional Final with the parque pattern. Nice touch by the normally sterile NCAA.

I feel that the standard courts have been good for nothing else than eliminating the need to use large decals on the court. In recent years, its been proven that the decals become slippery and can cause player injury. In the first few years of the standardized court design, I believe the NCAA placed small decals with the host's logo in bounds on the court, but has recently moved all decals and city name out of bounds on the baseline.

Any move that helps player safety is good with me.

Regarding the removal of ads in arenas, its to protect the NCAA's corporate partner. For example, Coke would not be pleased to pay 8+ figures for its partnership to have large Pepsi ads in some arenas. Interestingly, they've had 2 different "collectable cup" designs in recent years. Buildings that pour Coke had a large-ish Coke ad on the cups, while Pepsi buildings had the same cup with no soda branding.

Its all about the $$$$$$$.

Yes, it is true about the host logos. I remember when I went to the 2007 East Regionals, there were two Rutgers logos on the court itself:

[ohryan]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but is it possible to make a parquet floor out of a regular floor by just rotating the floor tiles? I'm assuming that most courts are made up of a bunch of interlocking pieces, but I have no idea if they only fit together one way, or if it's possible to turn every other tile 90 degrees and still have it all fit together.

[mstein]

I think the regionals should all have standardized courts, and once teams get to the Final Four, the court should showcase the city. Much like the Women's Final Four.

Example:

I like that floor, but I wonder how many players accidentally stepped out of bounds in the corner where the peach leaves are located? It's hard to see the inbounds line.

They are oranges. That's Tampa.

[CDixonDesign]

Very unusual, considering the courts are not just standardized, but the arenas are sterilized. All the banners had to come down from the Garden ceiling for the weekend NCAA tournament.

My link

Yeah its crazy Dayton has alot of ads around the court and on scoreboards and they all have to be covered up

Ah, thanks for the link. That explains the Celtics and Bruins championship banners "hitting the road" this weekend, which has been promoted heavily on Twitter.

[Raymie]

There was only one sign I can remember NOT being covered up when University of Phoenix Stadium here hosted the NCAA regionals a few years ago (I saw the Mizzou halftime Hail Mary live) ? the University of Phoenix sign.

[bri1275]

I think the standardized courts in the NCAA have been a terrible idea. They have completely removed the individual characteristics of each location. I miss the days of everyone playing on a different looking court and immediately being able to tell where the games were being played. The NCAA continues to attempt to rip the soul out of athletics and replace it with money. This is college athletics not professional, let it have some personality and fun.

[cowbell204]

There was only one sign I can remember NOT being covered up when University of Phoenix Stadium here hosted the NCAA regionals a few years ago (I saw the Mizzou halftime Hail Mary live) ? the University of Phoenix sign.

I worked at the Nashville regional this year, and we were told that Bridgestone was allowed to keep two logoed signs in the arena, not including the arena name on one of the baselines.

[Max Power]

I always liked seeing other courts of the country growing up watching the tourney. Funniest memory was seeing UTSA 's floor in alamodome for Regionals one year.

Same here. My favorite was Boise State's mid-90's court.

I'd have an easier time accepting the standardized courts if the design weren't so awful. The host school/conference logos on the end lines facing the baselines drives me crazy. The colored in free-throw half-circle is just dumb.

The parquet floor in Boston is a move in the right direction, but they still have a long way to go to fix the standardized court design.

[leopard88]

Exactly. People act like it's really hard to look on the baseline to see where the game is.

Actually, it is, since they use the nearly illegible combination of blue text on a black background . . . which you then have to try to read at a 90 degree angle.

I'd have an easier time accepting the standardized courts if the design weren't so awful. The host school/conference logos on the end lines facing the baselines drives me crazy. The colored in free-throw half-circle is just dumb.

The parquet floor in Boston is a move in the right direction, but they still have a long way to go to fix the standardized court design.

Agreed.

[BRice16]

I think the regionals should all have standardized courts, and once teams get to the Final Four, the court should showcase the city. Much like the Women's Final Four.

Example:

I like that floor, but I wonder how many players accidentally stepped out of bounds in the corner where the peach leaves are located? It's hard to see the inbounds line.

I was at that Women's Final Four (Lady Vols title #8), and no one accidentally stepped out of bounds. In person, the line was much clearer.

[Billy B]

Exactly. People act like it's really hard to look on the baseline to see where the game is.

Actually, it is, since they use the nearly illegible combination of blue text on a black background . . . which you then have to try to read at a 90 degree angle.

I really don't think it's that hard to read the text on the baseline. Would it be easier if it was in white? Of course, but the blue isn't impossible to read. That's just a bad angle that picture is at. If you didn't already know what it said, you wouldn't be able to tell that it says NCAA on black on the court.

[dfwabel]

If white or outlined in white, it would be easier to see the facility's sponsors name which would defeat the mission of having one floor. Nothing is wrong with the current system. Do not bid if your venue and host institution or conference complain about the terms because the line of cities/venues who want the travelling fans tax dollars starts to your right.

[DaytonBlue]

It would be nice if they could change up the design for the regionals at least since they create new courts for them every year. Or at least make the blue lettering on the baselines white and incorporate the host team's logo more prominently into the court (which they could do since the courts are repainted afterwards).

The other thing that doesn't make sense to me is keeping the subregional courts year after year and selling the regional courts. If I were them, I would demote the regional courts to subregional courts and rotate them out so all the games are played on relatively new courts.

[tuffytoro]

I actually like the standardized courts that the NCAA has been using. It gives the tournament a special feel that I think conveys the importance of the games. Some of the old courts made it really distracting when there was a huge midcourt logo or distracting designs on the court that almost made the game hard to watch. One game that stands out to me for this was the Illinois/Arizona Elite 8 matchup at Allstate Arena. The giant blue demon in the middle of the court was distracting, especially when it contrasted with the colors of both teams in the game.

That being said, I love that they used the parquet in Boston. It's a nice touch that keeps the character of the court, but is still able to accommodate the NCAA marks. A perfect exception to the rule.

I, too, love the standardized courts. But the NCAA needs to take it a step further and standardize the team uniforms; have the higher seed wear a white "NCAA" uniform and the lower seed wear a blue "NCAA" uniform. It would give the tournament even more of a special feel and would further convey the importance of the games. Some of the team uniforms are really distracting when they feature unusual colors or team names. If the NCAA could just make every game look exactly the same, it would make me really happy.

[PhlyBoy]

I actually like the standardized courts that the NCAA has been using. It gives the tournament a special feel that I think conveys the importance of the games. Some of the old courts made it really distracting when there was a huge midcourt logo or distracting designs on the court that almost made the game hard to watch. One game that stands out to me for this was the Illinois/Arizona Elite 8 matchup at Allstate Arena. The giant blue demon in the middle of the court was distracting, especially when it contrasted with the colors of both teams in the game.

That being said, I love that they used the parquet in Boston. It's a nice touch that keeps the character of the court, but is still able to accommodate the NCAA marks. A perfect exception to the rule.

I, too, love the standardized courts. But the NCAA needs to take it a step further and standardize the team uniforms; have the higher seed wear a white "NCAA" uniform and the lower seed wear a blue "NCAA" uniform. It would give the tournament even more of a special feel and would further convey the importance of the games. Some of the team uniforms are really distracting when they feature unusual colors or team names. If the NCAA could just make every game look exactly the same, it would make me really happy.

your cool