The top 10 strangest playing surfaces in college sports
The Washington Huskies unveiled a new basketball court at Alaska Air Arena on Thursday. The school chose to incorporate some local flavor into the design, as it is becoming a common practice in college sports. The new court features a silhouette of the Seattle skyline, complete with the Space Needle.
Quirkiness rules over conformity in modern playing surface design on the college sport circuit. From Boise State's blue turf at Bronco Stadium to Florida International's beachy basketball court, bold is the new black.
Here are 10 of the wackiest playing surfaces in college sports.
Roos Field, Eastern Washington
Roos Field (formerly Woodward Field) has undergone a couple of renovations since it first opened in 1967. Most notably, the program pushed for a switch from a traditional green playing surface to red turf for the 2010 season. This is how they do in the Pacific Northwest.
U.S. Century Bank Arena, Florida International
Nothing says South Florida quite like a beach towel basketball court design.
Ralph F DellaCamera Stadium, New Haven
The Division II New Haven Chargers have a big blue to call their own. New Haven re-launched its football program in 2009, and made things interesting by opting for blue turf. The program has a licence agreement with Boise State to use a blue playing surface.
Icardo Center, CSU Bakersfield
The Cal State-Bakersfield Roadrunners play on this vibrant blue and yellow basketball court, complete with McDonald's Golden Arches via a sponsorship agreement. Northwestern pitched a purple court design a few years ago but never followed through on it. Kudos to CSU Bakersfield for pulling it off... I guess.
Lindenwood Stadium, Lindenwood University - Belleville
Surely the Lindenwood Lynx' alternating red and grey football field is the ugliest surface in all of college sports... right?
Estes Stadium, Central Arkansas
Only Central Arkansas tops Lindenwood in terms of vomit-inducing playing fields. No one deserves to play on this rug. No one deserves to look at the turf at Estes Stadium either. Why don't you just go ahead and replace screaming heavy metal and strobe lights as a torture device with forced 24-hour viewing of the Central Arkansas Bears football field.
Harold Alfond Sports Arena, Maine
A caveat here as the Maine Black Bears died their ice surface pink for breast cancer awareness this past January. Maine's not alone in this practice, as minor pro hockey teams have jumped on it as well. Fear not, hockey purists, it's just a charitable trend. There is no threat to traditional white ice.
Moby Arena, Colorado State
It's cornucopias! It's snail shells! It's staircases! Nah, it's the Colorado State Rams going too far with their horns motif.
Matthew Knight Arena, Oregon
What is it about the Pacific Northwest and an inability to leave well enough alone? Sure, it's Eugene Oregon so you gotta have some trees on the basketball court. This abomination looks like someone spilled some bleach on a pair of Carhartts. Try again.
Bronco Stadium, Boise State
The original blue. It's both bizarre and a perfect fit for the Boise State Broncos. It's the only non-green artificial playing surface in all of the FBS. The Broncos battled opposition from the NCAA and other programs to retain their right to wear blue uniforms on the blue turf.