Comcast Center (arena)

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Comcast Center
Comcast Center ExteriorComcast Center Interior
Location	Terrapin Trail College Park, MD 20742
Broke ground	May, 2000
Opened	October 11, 2002
Owner	Maryland Sports Authority
Operator	Maryland Sports Authority
Construction cost	$125 million
Architect	Ellerbe Beckett
Tenants
Maryland Terrapins (Men's and Women's Basketball)
Capacity
17,950

This article is about the arena. For the office building in Philadelphia, see Comcast Center (office building).

Comcast Center is the arena for the University of Maryland Terrapins men’s and women's basketball teams. The on-campus facility is named for the Comcast Corporation, which purchased a 20-year, $25 million corporate naming agreement. Comcast Center replaced Cole Field House, which had served as the home of Maryland basketball since 1955. Ground was broken in May 2000 and construction was completed in October 2002 at a cost of $125 million. Comcast Center, which has a capacity of 17,950, opened for Midnight Madness on October 11, 2002 and the first official men’s game was a 64-49 victory over Miami University (Ohio) on November 24, 2002 (Video of first tipoff).

1 Facilities
2 Notable Games at Comcast Center
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Facilities

In addition to the main basketball court, Comcast Center also features a 1500-seat gymnasium for volleyball, gymnastics and wrestling; an academic support center; a 400-seat banquet hall; and the offices of the athletics department. Inside the lobby on the east side of the facility is the Terrapin Walk of Fame and History, featuring many images of the past of Maryland athletics as well as the 2002 men’s national championship trophy and the 2006 women’s national championship trophy.

The student section contains 4000 seats arranged in the first ten rows on all sides of the arena, plus the most notable feature of the arena, the steeply pitched seating area at the west end of the arena behind the visiting team’s second half basket, informally known as “The Wall.” Originally designed to reduce excavation costs due to a hill, the area features 2600 student seats meant to intimidate opposing players who shoot free throws in the second half.

[edit] Notable Games at Comcast Center

December 14, 2002 In Maryland's debut game at the new arena, they fell to the University of Florida Gators 69-64. Despite a valiant effort, Maryland's inability to contain Anthony Roberson from behind the arc and shooting just 36% from the free throw line led to a less than auspicious christening of the facility.

January 18, 2003 The Terrapins defeated then undefeated #1 Duke, 87-72.

February 17, 2003 Due to a major snowstorm in the area, the game against #10 Wake Forest was postponed from the previous night. Since most ticket holders were unable to travel to College Park, the athletic department instituted an open attendance policy. Anyone with a valid student ID was given free admission and the general public was charged $20. The near-capacity crowd was comprised mostly of students enjoying their snowday, and the Terrapins defeated the Demon Deacons 90-67.

February 22, 2004 The third largest crowd to watch an Atlantic Coast Conference women’s regular season basketball game and the second largest crowd to watch a women’s game at the Comcast Center (13,346), went home disappointed as No. 4-ranked Duke defeated the Terrapins 72-59.

February 12, 2005 The Terrapins won their third consecutive game against Duke and became first team to sweep the regular season series from the Blue Devils since Wake Forest did it during 1995-96 season. The 99-92 overtime thriller coincided with a visit from ESPN's College GameDay.

February 13, 2005 The No. 18-ranked women's team lost to No. 4-ranked Duke 60-49 in front of the largest crowd to watch an Atlantic Coast Conference women's regular season basketball game (17,243).

March 20-22, 2005 Comcast Center hosted first- and second-round games for the NCAA women's basketball tournament. The No. 7-seeded Terps used their home court advantage to defeat 10-seed Wisconsin-Green Bay but lost to No. 2-seeded Ohio State. In the other games, Liberty became only the second 13-seed to advance to the Sweet 16 by upsetting fourth-seeded Penn State and fifth-seeded DePaul.

February 7, 2006 Maryland came from behind to beat Virginia, 76-65, to give Gary Williams 349 wins at Maryland, surpassing the record previously set by Charles "Lefty" Driesell.

January 28, 2007 The largest crowd in ACC women's history, 17,950, watched 2nd ranked North Carolina defeat 3rd ranked Maryland 84-71, surpassing the record set the previous season.

February 25, 2007 The men's team shrugged up a 12 point defecit to UNC to defeat the #5 ranked Tar Heels 89-87. The win broke Carolina's 5 game winning streak over the Terps, and helped boost Maryland's bid for the NCAA Tournament.