Marriott Center Additional Information Seating Chart Tickets Directions Game Day Information Media Information Men’s Basketball Homepage Women’s Basketball Homepage Men’s Basketball Records Women’s Basketball Records Quick Facts Opened: 1971 Official Capacity: 22,700 Largest Crowd: 23,106 (Men’s basketball game in 1981) The largest arena in the state of Utah Size: The building covers three acres and encloses eight million cubic feet. It is the third-largest on-campus arena in the country.

BYU's 22,700-seat basketball arena is truly a hoop heaven. There is no place quite like it in college basketball. Over the past 37 years, the Marriott Center has been home to the thrills and cheers of BYU basketball. With a history full of game-winning shots, slam dunks and some of the nation's top attendance marks, the Marriott Center's 22,700 seats have allowed BYU fans to see plenty of excitement since the facility's opening game on Dec. 3, 1971.

The Marriott Center is named for successful Utah businessman J. Willard Marriott and is the third-largest on-campus arena in the country behind Syracuse's Carrier Dome (33,000) and Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena (24,525). The building covers three acres and encloses eight million cubic feet. There are approximately 10,100 chair seats with the balance being bleacher seats. About 40 percent of the seats are below the concourse level. The distance around the concourse level is a quarter of a mile. The roof, which is the size of two football fields placed side-by-side, is 10 stories high and has 50,000 bolts in it. The four-million pound roof was constructed first at ground level, then raised 38 feet.

FACILITIES
There are seven locker rooms, a President's room, two reception rooms, press and interview rooms, men's and women's team rooms and a training room.

Improvements to the exterior and interior took place in 2007, including glass exterior walls and new lighting. In 2006 the original suspended floor, installed in 1971, was replaced with a Connor Uniforce floor and seismic upgrades took place. Fittingly, the last game played on the original floor featured the jersey retirement of Cougar great Kresimir Cosic, who played in the first game in the Marriott Center. An additional floor upgrade was installed in 2007.

"The Marriott Center is one of the top five places to play in the country, not just because of its size, but because its facilities are fantastic," said former UTEP head coach Don Haskins, the subject of the 2006 film Glory Road. "If there is a better arena, I haven't seen it."

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The BYU men's basketball team has a .784 winning percentage in the Marriott Center over its 37 years. The Cougars have gone 111-10 in the Marriott Center over the past eight years, boasting the nation's longest home victory streak over parts of the 2002 and 2003 seasons. The Cougars finished the 2007-08 season with the country's longest home win streak at 48 games.

Some great games have been played in the Marriott Center, including Danny Ainge and company's 19-point shellacking of No. 7 Utah in 1981 before the Cougars' run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. In 2002, BYU put on an incredible run to erase a 21-point second-half deficit and defeat Utah 63-61, helping preserve a perfect 16-0 home record. The Cougars played their 500th game in the Marriott Center on Feb. 22, 2006, against league-leader San Diego State, putting together a thrilling 59-point second-half performance on the way to a 100-90 win.

FAN SUPPORT
The top three attendance games in the history of the Mountain West Conference have all been played in the Marriott Center. BYU has ranked in the top 25 nationally in paid attendance every year but four since the Marriott Center opened. The Cougars have led the nation three years, finished second four times and been among the top five attendance leaders 19 times over the past 37 years.

In 1972, 1977, 1979 and 1982, BYU hosted NCAA Regionals. The 1988 Western Athletic Conference Tournament was also held in the Marriott Center. In addition to the fans it draws for basketball, capacity crowds have filled the arena for devotionals, commencement exercises, concerts and pageants. As a sports venue, it has also accommodated BYU tennis, wrestling, volleyball and gymnastics contests as well as NBA exhibition games.

PRESS FACILITIES
BYU's Marriott Center includes a full-service Press Room complete with copy machine, fax machine, Ethernet ports and wireless internet service. A second workroom adjacent to the Press Room features a mounted BYU backdrop and doubles as the location of postgame press conferences for women's basketball. Men's basketball postgame press conferences are held in a hosting room located across from the Press Room, where a portable backdrop is erected.

During games, media sit on Press Row, which runs along the south side of the basketball court. Home and visiting radio crews are located at floor level while all other media members are seated on an elevated second row.