What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
This week, just in time for the final weekend of Big 12 men’s basketball action, I take you inside the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.
My Visit to the McKale Center
This has been a Big 12 season for the books. I don’t think the conference has been better than it has this season from a men’s basketball perspective. The Arizona Wildcats have had something to do with that.
I remember a few years ago at the Big 12 Tournament when there were only discussions about bringing in the Four Corners schools. Kansas coach Bill Self was asked about it, and he said something along the lines of “Well, you’ve got to get Arizona.”
And the Big 12 did, along with Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. But of those four schools, Arizona is the one with the basketball pedigree. So, as I mapped out my 2025-26 travel schedule I landed on a perfect storm. I could head to Tucson on Valentine’s Day and see and men’s and women’s doubleheader and then stay in Arizona for a week and cover Texas Rangers spring training.
I love it when a plan comes together. And I love Arizona, the state. My grandparents lived outside Fountain Hills for decades after they retired. I have plenty of happy memories there.
I’ve wanted to get to McKale for a long time. Growing up when I grew up, I saw McKale plenty on television. That was the late 1980s — Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Jud Buechler, Sean Rooks, Kenny Lofton (yep, that Kenny Lofton), Harvey Mason, etc… Lute Olson knew how to put together a team. I remember being happy when the Wildcats won the 1997 national championship. Olson seemed to have claimed that title no coach wants — “best coach never to have won a title” and I was thrilled to see him finally shed it.
So, the day worked perfectly. I’d get Arizona State and Arizona women in the early game and then Arizona and Texas Tech men after. As a bonus, ESPN College Gameday was there. I didn’t make it for that part. Too early a start and too long a drive from Goodyear, where I was staying for spring training. But considering the season the Arizona men are having, they deserved it.
One of the things I judge an arena on is how easy it is to move around inside. I didn’t have any issues here. The entire concourse is walkable and there’s plenty of room. A packed house may disagree with me but I’m usually walking around before or between games when there’s less people. Do yourself a favor and stand on the side opposite the player benches when you can get a good view of the floor. That Arizona cactus logo hits a lot different than it does on TV. Never, ever, get rid of that ever again.
McKale’s History
Another thing I look for is history. The best arenas do a great job of displaying their history. You have to hunt out Arizona’s a bit, but it’s worth it. On the side with the player benches you’ll find the basketball offices for the men and the women tucked under the upper deck on the baseline and the concessions on the sideline. The way I went in was where the women’s basketball offices are. If you follow that hallway, you get a treat. You get everything, from men’s and women’s basketball to Olympic sports. And the men’s basketball displays lead right into its offices and is one of the most distinctive I’ve seen.
McKale was built in 1973, and it really doesn’t show its age. I arrived the same weekend that they sold the naming rights to ALKEME and it’s now McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. What I really enjoyed was hearing the leadership at ALKEME understand that McKale Center had to be front and center in the naming. They’re paying to see the name on TV. You and I are gonna call it McKale, McKale Center or Lute and Bobbi Olson Court, cool? Cool.
As for the atmosphere, well it’s Big 12 worthy. The women’s game was extremely cool. More than 8,000 were there, and this was after more than 6,000 showed up for the game in Tempe in January. That’s about 15,000 for two women’s in-state rivalry games. That’s great for both schools, great for the state and great for the Big 12, which I wrote about last month. Not every Big 12 schools can draw those kinds of crowds for women’s basketball. That game went to overtime. Terrific showdown.
For the men, the place was packed and it was loud. I’ve come across this discourse on social media between Arizona fans about the crowds and the atmosphere. I’ll be honest — all I saw was nearly 15,000 people screaming at the top of their lungs for 40 minutes (well, 45 if you count overtime) and completely into the game. I saw a student section that appeared to me to stretch all the way to the top of the arena.
That was a Big 12 game, a Big 12 atmosphere and a Big 12 arena in every way. McKale can hang among the best venues in the league and the country. Check it out sometime. You’ll enjoy it. And then stop by El Charro Café after the game. I’m telling you — make that jersey patch happen.
