If you have ever attended a game at the Rutgers Athletic Center, better known as the RAC, you know it is a special place to watch a basketball game. Opened in 1977, the RAC is a relic compared to all its Big Ten counterpart arenas. With a capacity of just 8,000, the arena from outside looks like a truncated tent with trapezoidal sides.
This unique configuration puts fans close to the court and gives the opposition the impression that they are playing in front of 20,000 fans, instead of under half that amount. In its current configuration, the RAC is the smallest arena in the Big Ten Conference, less than 200 fewer seats than Northwestern’s new Welsh-Ryan arena.