TCU has the worst home court advantage in the Big 12

Back in 2014, I was living in Arlington, and the Tarrant County based company that I worked for regularly had available TCU tickets for football and basketball. Some of my coworkers and I decided to hang out and go to a TCU basketball game. A couple of the guys were TCU grads and the rest of us were avid college basketball fans so we decided to go.

TCU was playing a ranked K-State team that evening so I expected it to be electric, yet when i entered the arena it was everything but. TCU ended up losing that game in a rout in what sounded more like a golf tournament than a Big 12 conference basketball game and we were so bored, we left halfway through the second half. Now before I get into thrashing TCU, let me provide more context.

This was only TCU’s second year in the Big 12 and it’s not as if they were a basketball power beforehand. TCU had lost games to Harvard and Longwood earlier that season so it was apparent this would be a horrendous season for them. Nevertheless, as bad as Tech was during the early 2010s, it was never as quiet in the USA as it was that evening in the Schollmaier Arena. I went back again later that season to watch TCU play Tech and despite both teams having terrible seasons, Tech fans still outnumbered TCU’s in their own arena.

When I saw this tweet posted by @TCU_Athletics, I began to chuckle. The Horned Frogs have a history of poor showing for events, and Tech has found a way to take advantage of this in recent years.

Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

TCU might have had bad attendance in the past but they’re much better now right?

Sort of. The attendance in the Schollmaier Arena has improved, but still ranked dead last in the conference and 87th in the nation just last year. Some may argue that the arena’s capacity of 6,700 make it hard for them to gain higher attendance numbers but I’d argue that with a capacity that small, it’s even more embarrassing that the stadium can’t be packed.

Not to mention, TCU’s crowd is far from rambunctious. This fan-base isn’t the type to intimidate you, it’s more the type to make you feel right at home. Most of their fans sit throughout the game, and during the intense moment you mostly get a nice solemn clap like you hear at the end of elementary school plays.

Look at this video. If that is the loudest place in Fort Worth, I think I have found a place for my grandmother to live where she’ll no longer have to worry about roaring noises. The music blasting from the speakers is 90% of the sound TCU Associate AD Mark Cohen is referring to.

At Tech, most of the crowd noise comes from the student section, I’m sure TCU’s is just as wild.

Not by a long shot. Look at the video above. That student section took up about half of one section. That’s it. That’s the group that is supposed to be the rowdy and fun and be infectious to the rest of the fans around them? Doesn’t seem like it.

TCU was 4-6 against power conference teams at home last year and are 2-2 this year, we’ll see if that improved home court attendance brings it on Saturday or if their truly is a different reason for this improvement.

Wreck TCU