Albany
Traveling – A College Basketball Journey – Game 32
Home Team: Albany Great Danes
Away Team: UMBC Retrievers
Final Score: UMBC def. Albany, 114-102 in OT
Venue: Broadview Center, Guilderland, NY
Date: February 3, 2024
Time: 7:00 P.M.
As far as public universities go in the country, the SUNY schools are behind when it comes to sports on a collegiate level. Historically, their athletic programs have been put to the side in favor of academic focus. Don’t get me wrong, at the end of the day that is what is most important and no one would sacrifice academics for athletic success, but it has limited exposure on a national level. New York is the only state where the most nationally relevant schools are private. In fact, the four main SUNY centers; Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook, have only been in D1 since the 90’s. That is only four D1 public schools for 20 million residents. Take a state such as Louisiana with 11 public D1 institutions. Sure, they may not have as high of enrollments, but for a state with 5 million people they still are far ahead of New York in national relevancy.
Ultimately, the point I am trying to get at is that the SUNY schools are sleeping giants. This can be seen with Stony Brook jumping to the CAA, and them being thrown out as a possible call up to FBS. There is a ton of potential. Albany has seen that, and judging by the way their arena renovation looks, it definitely feels like they are ramping up for a jump to a better conference.
Game parking for The Broadview Center is deceptively far from the building. There are plenty of parking lots by the arena, but all seem to be for students or faculty. As I pulled into a space half a mile from where I needed to be, I readied for the cold walk. Much to my surprise though, at the end of the parking lot sat a couple university buses, meant to take people to the arena. The one I got on was called the “Slam Dunk Express.” This bus system was definitely a first.
The outside of the building is bland. The white-gray brick structure is dimly lit by streetlights and does not look to have any windows. From the bus stop there are stairs that head up, with the arena on the right, and another athletic building on the left. The front entrance is quite unassuming, with just a few glass windows and doors previewing a look inside. Directly inside is a lobby area. A statue of a Great Dane sits front and center. On the right side of the lobby is a decent sized concession stand, while on the left side a small merchandise stand sells the usual mix of t-shirts and small Albany branded knick knacks. In the center of these two sides, the only entrance to the arena glows purple.
A walkway surrounds all of the seating in the arena so all seats can be reached with ease. The purple glow continues around the walkway, covering each wall. Only a lower bowl exists, with all seats below ground level, and is nearly symmetrical aside from the end with the student section having only bleacher seating. On each corner is a small section of seats that sit above tunnels leading to the interior of the building. A couple of these corners are closed off, reserved for special club seating.
In the middle of the arena sits a jumbotron, and is the only video board source for keeping track of stats and the score. This deviates a bit from what I am used to seeing, as these newly renovated arenas tend to have corner video boards as well or large video boards on either end. The lack of hardware did not take away from the modern feeling though. I actually liked that there was just one video board to focus on. Overall it just felt less distracting.
While I love visiting mid-majors from a travel standpoint of seeing new places and different schools, sometimes the basketball I see while I am there is lackluster, especially when it comes to scoring. Therefore, this game was incredible. As a neutral fan, I loved the complete disregard for defense on the floor from either team. It was exciting to cheer as Tyler Bertram broke the Albany three point record on his 10th basket from behind the arc, and even more exciting to see UMBC break 100. If someone would have told me before the game that Albany would break 100 and still lose I would have laughed, but that somehow happened. It may be a long time, and maybe never again that I attend such a high scoring game.
Team Conference and State Statistics
Albany is the fourth America East arena I have been to. This is the second time I have seen Albany home or away.
UMBC becomes the fourth team I have seen thrice home or away. The others are Fairfield, Princeton, and Wagner.
Albany is the 10th arena I have been to in New York for active D1 programs.
Next: Game 33 - Siena