Over a two-week span, were answering the following question for college basketballs 10 best conferences: Which venue in each conference is the toughest place to play? A number of factors, not just capacity and attendance, could affect a venues place in the order. Where does your school fall??In an effort to keep up with the competition and add some juice to the relatively new conference, schools in the American Athletic Conference have been busy sprucing up their various venues. Yet the toughest place to play in the league earned its reputation not merely by revamping the arena, but by renovating the program. Theres a lesson in there somewhere.11. South Florida Bulls: Sun Dome, opened in 1980The dreary building was given a much-needed facelift in 2012 and, paired with the Bulls first NCAA bid in 20 years, it was supposed to signal a turnaround for USFs fortunes. Things didnt go exactly as planned. Instead two years later Stan Heath was fired, and third-year coach Orlando Antigua now has a nice building in sunny Tampa to welcome visiting teams to. But hes still trying to rebuild his team. USF is 12-23 in its past two seasons at home, and the Dome averaged just 29 percent of its capacity last season.Fun fact: Alice Cooper played the first concert in the arena in 1980. He opened with Welcome to My Nightmare.10. East Carolina Pirates: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, opened in 1967 Theres potential here, which is why East Carolina pulls in at No. 10 instead of 11. What Williams Arena has going for is its not too big. It seats just 8,000, which puts a low demand on a fan base that hasnt tasted a whole lot of success. And when the Pirate faithful crowd in, it can be difficult for anyone to play there (see the win over Temple last season.)Fun fact:?One of the arenas highlight moments came in 2002, when the Pirates beat both Louisville and then-No. 9 Marquette at home, in their first season as members of what was then Conference USA.9. UCF Knights: CFE Arena, opened in 2007 You get to be near Disney World. Everyones happy at Disney World. How tough can visiting UCF be? Mix in the fact that the Knights, and their student section Knightmare, havent been terribly intimidating: They ranked 112th in attendance last season. And youve got a big, fairly innocuous looking building that could be just about anywhere in the country. Not much to fear.Fun fact: In 2008, Lupe Fiasco played a concert inside the arena. Outside, a presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain played on a big screen. When concert goers stuck around to watch the debate outside, the building hosted a massive presidential watch party.8. Tulane Green Wave: Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse, opened in 1933Truth be told, the fieldhouse is a pretty sweet gem of a gym on the New Orleans campus and better yet, the old place was given a complete facelift in 2012. And at just 4,000 seats its got all the ingredients to be a tough bandbox. But until the Green Waves play can match the facility, the fieldhouse will be stuck near the bottom of the rankings.Fun fact: In 1975, President Gerald Ford announced the end of the United States involvement in the Vietnam War in the fieldhouse. The war is finished, as far as America is concerned, Ford said to cheering students.7. Tulsa Golden Hurricane: Donald W. Reynolds Center, opened in 1998 When your new athletic director makes reviving attendance one of his premiere goals, you have a bit of an issue. But Tulsa AD Derrick Graggs initiative has merits. In the Golden Hurricanes first six seasons at the Reynolds Center, they averaged more than 7,000 fans per game. In the past three seasons, theyve dipped to 4,745. In 2013-14, the year Tulsa won 11 games in a row to earn its first NCAA ticket since 2003, the Golden Hurricane brought just 4,528 people to the building.Fun fact: Before the Reynolds Center opened, the Golden Hurricanes played in 13 different sites in their programs history, including a 20-year run of practicing on campus but competing downtown.6. Houston Cougars: Hofheinz Pavilion, opened in 1969 Theres an asterisk here because, in 2018, the Cougars will open an entirely redesigned facility, and the Hofheinz family (the late Judge Roy Hofheinz is a UH alum) is currently suing the university over the naming rights. The school announced an unnamed donor, who pledged $20 million to the redesign, will get the new naming rights. The family says that violates their contract. The asterisk also exists because when the redesign is done, Houston could conceivably move up the rankings. Just as the team is improving under Kelvin Sampson, a new and improved building could make for a tougher place for opponents to play.Fun fact: A mover and a shaker in Houston, Hofheinz helped bring Major League Baseball to Houston (in the form of the Colt .45s before they became the Astros) and develop the Houston Astrodome.5. Temple Owls: Liacouras Center, opened in 1997 Philly loves its basketball, and Philly knows its basketball, so the fans who come to watch the Owls play are as passionate as any youll find. But Temple has two things working against it: a large commuter student population and too many other options in town. The students who do show up are boisterous, and when folks commit to Temple games -- usually when a big opponent comes to play -- it can be as good an atmosphere as youll find. The struggle is to make that the case because Temple is playing, not because of who Temple is playing.Fun fact: For years the city and the university fought over who would control a $5 million donation Temple had made for a housing project, which was included in the costs of constructing the new arena. As only he could, then Temple coach John Chaney used his postgame media conferences to publicly lambast city officials over the stalled project, going so far as to accuse City Council president John Street of blackmail. No surprise, the two sides soon reached a compromise and construction began.4. Memphis Tigers: FedExForum, opened in 2004This is a tough call because of what FedEx Forum once was and, of course, what it could be once again with new coach Tubby Smith at the helm. As the Tigers struggle on the court, their in-house intimidation factor takes a hit, too. Attendance at Memphis games has been steadily declining, bottoming out at a little more than 12,000 this past season. But if Smith can turn around Texas Tech, surely he can turn around the Tigers.Fun fact: When undefeated and No. 1 Memphis hosted No. 2 Tennessee in 2008, the game was considered such a blockbuster, tickets were rumored to be selling for $10,000 and Entertainment Tonight sent a TV crew to keep tabs on the celebrities in attendance.3. Cincinnati Bearcats: Fifth Third Arena, opened in 1989 Playing the Bearcats, who love nothing better than to ugly up a game, is no fun anywhere. Playing the Bearcats at home, where their crowd is just as relentless as they are, can be downright overwhelming. In the past three seasons, Cincinnati has lost all of seven games at home, but fan attendance is not as dedicated as it once was, and the arena has long needed serious work. When some fans even cited the building as a reason they chose to stay home, the school went to work with a fundraising plan and this year announced it signed a deal with a construction firm ... just in time for possible Big 12 expansion.Fun fact: Despite its bank name, most locals still call the building The Shoe, referring to its original name: Myrl H. Shoemaker Center.2. Connecticut Huskies: Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, opened in 1990 Just getting to Gampel is difficult. Storrs sits only 28 minutes away from Hartford, but its tucked in the middle of nowhere, an outpost down the road from the interstate. And thats on a good day, not on a lovely New England winter day in, say, January or February. And Gampel is not a building you would expect a national program to call home. Its an intimate 10,000-seat arena, of which former coach Jim Calhoun once said, When you walk out there on the floor, you can see the faces, the fans can see the perspiration on the players, and you can really feel the pulse of the crowd. The Huskies, by the way, are 168-30 there. The Huskies also play a portion of their home schedule at Hartfords XL Center.Fun fact: The university originally approved plans to build a new arena in 1979, the same year that UConn joined the Big East. Design changes, an original plan included a flat roof with an artificial turf field on top, and cost overruns delayed the start of construction until 1987.1. SMU Mustangs: Moody Coliseum, opened in 1956 Before Larry Brown arrived in town, SMU averaged 2,013 fans per game. Last season the Mustangs lost one game at Moody. The Hall of Famer can be accused of lots of things, but the man knows how to turn around a program. In its 7,000-seat charming old barn, SMU is now a force in college basketball, with a rowdy home crowd to match its efforts. The big question: Can Tim Jankovich, named head coach after Brown resigned abruptly last month, keep it going?Fun fact: Dallas first ABA franchise, the Chaparrals, played some games at Moody. Owners couldnt agree on a team name so they went with the place where they were meeting, the Chaparral Club. But after just sevens seasons and declining ticket sales, the franchise relocated to another Texas town. The Chaparrals became the San Antonio Spurs.Fake Jerseys From China . The Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers all won on Sunday meaning the Rangers will host the Rays in a play-in game on Monday. Fake Adidas Jerseys . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. http://www.fakejersey.com/ . R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. Fake Soccer Jerseys .com) - Manchester City midfielder David Silva is expected to miss the next four weeks because of a calf problem. Fake Basketball Jerseys . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance.LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers designated injury-plagued left-hander Ted Lilly for assignment on Thursday and recalled utilityman Elian Herrera from Triple-A Albuquerque. The moves were made by the NL West leaders before they hosted the Cincinnati Reds. Lilly, 37, was 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA in five starts this season, and has been on the disabled list three times. He missed the first 3 1-2 weeks while recovering from shoulder surgery, then sat out another three weeks with a ribcage strain. He hasnt pitched since June 4 because of a neck strain. "Nobody wanted to do this," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "We all like Ted and we think he can still pitch. It just got to the point where we had to make a decision. He was very classy about it." Lilly, a 15-year veteran and two-time All-Star, was 24-21 with a 3.83 ERA in 58 starts with the Dodgers after joining them in 2010. He was 5-0 with a 1.83 ERA in his first five starts and then signed a three-year, $33 million contract following that season. "Its obviously not the way you want it to end for anybody," Mattingly said. "Teddys a competitive guy, but its been ann injury thing.dddddddddddd Teddy hasnt been able to stay on the field, and thats frustrating when you cant do that." Lilly didnt think his body could stand the rigours of being a starting pitcher again. He was willing to shift to a relief role, but he balked at the idea of going on a minor league rehab assignment first. Lilly told Mattingly and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt it wasnt necessary. "We wanted to set up a minor league schedule for him to basically try, to put him into the fire a little bit to see how it would look, but we werent able to do that," Mattingly said. "The way our bullpen is situated right now, we didnt really feel like there was a spot for him that would give us the best chance to win. "Teddy still thinks he could pitch out of the bullpen, and I really cant argue with that. It was just tough for us to make a move like that without seeing him try it instead of just displacing one of the guys we have right now." Herrera is batting .290 with six homers, 40 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 80 games with Albuquerque. He has played in three games during two stints with the Dodgers this season. ' ' '
