Penn State isn’t necessarily viewed as a college basketball hot spot. Games in the Bryce Jordan Center struggle to bring the kind of electricity another arena around the Big Ten can offer. But how does the college basketball environment in State College rank compared to others around the Big Ten? Is Penn State home to the worst college basketball city in the Big Ten?
Not according to a recent ranking compiled by personal finance outlet WalletHub. Using data comprising of data such as winning percentage, stadium capacity, and social-media engagement, WalletHub ranked every Division 1 college basketball city on the map. Keep this in mind as a city like Philadelphia is home to multiple college basketball programs (Temple, Penn, St. Joseph’s, LaSalle, and Drexel) while Penn State is the only program in the game in State College.
The ranking ranges from No. 1 Durham, North Carolina (Duke), and No. 2 Lexington, Kentucky (Kentucky Wildcats) at the top all the way down to No. 290 St. Georgia, Utah (Dixie State) and No. 291 Stephenville, Texas (Tarleton State).
You can view the full ranking and breakdown of the list here, but we trimmed out the Big Ten-based cities for you below so you can see just where Penn State stands in the Big Ten college basketball scene.
Editorial note: There was no ranking given to Piscataway, New Jersey, the home city for Rutgers. It’s possible Rutgers flies under the New York umbrella for this ranking (New York is No. 6), but it has been omitted from this listicle.