I was there today. Having grown up around college basketball and been to dozens of arenas around the country, I’ll say this: it seemed like a reactionary, “let’s see what happens” crowd. They got consistently loud the last four minutes at crunch time, particularly on defense. I’ve been to Kentucky-Louisville games, Indiana-Purdue games, Duke, UNC, Final Fours, conference tournaments, NCAA regionals, etc. and those crowds are at a fevered pitch and consistent hum on every possession, no matter who has the ball. Very similar to what we see in the fall at Neyland Stadium.
Today was two top-5 level teams competing for a #1 seed in the NCAAT and there were several times today where it was as quiet as a church. I don’t know if it’s nervousness or newness to the upper echelon of big time college basketball but it was much different from the environments I described above.
All in all it was a great win and we had a blast. You can definitely tell, though, we are not a basketball school. And there’s nothing wrong with that when you’re in the thick of the hunt for a #1 seed and the Final Four. Embrace it and enjoy the ride.