"I have to come back," said college basketball expert and host of the Blue Blooded Podcast Ryan Hammer during a recent spot with BYU Sports Nation.
"[The Marriott Center] is still my number-one rated home game-day environment in the entire country," Hammer elaborated. "It's truly a transcendent experience."
"It's still my number one rated game-day environment in the entire country..." 🔥@ryanhammer09 on the Marriott Center vibes pic.twitter.com/48Pdq2FJ7W
— BYUtv Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) April 20, 2026
Hammer has been closely plugged into the college basketball scene for the past few seasons, growing in popularity with his "Trapezoid of Excellence" metric for determining the true contenders for the national championship year after year, and took it upon himself last season to get firsthand experience at each of the nation's biggest and best arenas across the wide world of college basketball.
His trip to the Marriott Center took the cake, as it jumped to the top of the list and stayed there, even with competition like Iowa State's Hilton Coliseum, Utah State's Spectrum, Chapel Hill, NC State, Alabama, Purdue, and every corner of college hoops. BYU stood alone.
He called it the Intuit Dome of college basketball, with a perfect 4/4 venue/arena score. Hammer praised the Marriott Center for being right on campus, and having the sense that everything about the gameday experience, production, and arena itself was top of the line; deluxe.
"If I could give the atmosphere a 10/4, I would absolutely do that," Hammer raved about his visit to Provo. "This place is absolutely bonkers. [...] Without a doubt the wildest student section I've ever seen in my life. [...] They're absolutely psychos in the best way -- and that goes for the entire fanbase."
He even granted the experience an extra half bonus point for Cosmo the Cougar, the best mascot in the nation by his admission, and the iconic Cougar Tails.
It cleared the competition as the number one gameday environment in college basketball, and earned a 9.9 score atop his list. All of this in a game that saw BYU basketball fall behind by double digits against Arizona.
For a man with no ties to BYU or the state of Utah, you can't get a better endorsement or description of what BYU fans already knew was one of the premier locations to play basketball in the entire country.
You can watch his Marriott Center recap on Instagram by clicking here.
"If you'll have me back, I'll gladly come back next year!"
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