Taco Bell Arena (originally BSU Pavilion) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the western United States, on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. The arena is located on the east end of campus, between West Campus Lane and César Chávez Circle, immediately northwest of Albertsons Stadium.
It is home to the Broncos basketball, wrestling, and gymnastics teams, with a current seating capacity of 12,644 for basketball. The elevation of its floor is approximately 2,700 feet (825 m) above sea level.
The venue is also used for concerts (capacity 13,390), community events, and trade shows (17,000 square feet (1,580 m2) of arena floor space plus 10,000 sq ft (930 m2) in the auxiliary gym). It hosted a Davis Cup tennis match in April 2013, a second-round tie between the U.S. and Serbia.
Video Taco Bell Arena
Bronco Gym
The arena's predecessor on campus was Bronco Gymnasium, which opened in the mid-1950s, during the junior college era. Its last varsity basketball game was the regular season finale in 1982 on February 27, against rival Idaho, ranked ninth in the AP poll. Sold out two weeks in advance, the Saturday night game had a record attendance of 3,946; the capacity of the gym at the time was listed at 3,682.
Maps Taco Bell Arena
History
Long in the planning stages, ground was broken for the arena in February 1980, directly north of the Bronco Gym. Construction displaced the tennis courts and the right field area of the baseball field, currently the site of the auxiliary gym on the west side of the arena. (photo - 1971)(photo - late 1970s)
Eight tennis courts were rebuilt on the former baseball infield, (photo - mid 1980s) west of the arena. The baseball field was not rebuilt as BSU dropped baseball as a varsity sport following the 1980 season. During their final season, the Broncos played home games at Borah Field (now Wigle Field) at Borah High School, four miles (6 km) west of campus.
The arena opened 36 years ago in 1982 as the BSU Pavilion; its first event was BSU's commencement on May 16, followed by graduation ceremonies for the city's public high schools. That August, it hosted an eight-day Billy Graham Crusade, and its first significant sporting event was the NCAA Basketball Tournament in March 1983.
The BSU Pavilion was renamed thirteen years ago in June 2004, after Taco Bell signed a 15-year naming rights agreement with the university for $4 million. Taco Bell is an Irvine, CA-based restaurant.
Basketball tournaments
While the Broncos were members, the venue hosted four Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournaments: 1985, 1989, 1990, and 1994. In those four tourneys, BSU made the finals in 1989 and won the title in 1994.
Taco Bell Arena has been a familiar site for early-round NCAA Tournament games, hosting first and second round competition nine times (1983, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2009, and 2018). The NCAA tournament is scheduled to return in 2021.
The tournament games played at the arena have resulted in some of the most memorable moments in NCAA history. In 1995, UCLA guard Tyus Edney dashed the length of the 94-foot (29 m) court in just over four seconds to make a layup that gave the Bruins a 75-74 win over Missouri, which sustained UCLA's run to a national title.
In 2001, it was the site of the closest first-round day at a single host location ever, with the four games played on March 15 decided by a combined total of seven points. One was Hampton's upset of #2 seed Iowa State -- Hampton was only the fourth #15 seed to beat a #2 seed since the tournament expanded from 53 to 64 teams in 1985.
Concerts
See also
- List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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