Williams Arena

Williams Arena is the historic home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball teams on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. Affectionately known as 'The Barn,' it is one of the oldest and most distinctive arenas in college basketball, instantly recognizable for its raised playing floor that sits several feet above the surrounding seats. That configuration puts fans right on top of the action, and a packed Big Ten crowd here creates one of the loudest, most old-school atmospheres in the conference. Wood-paneled and steeped in tradition, it remains a beloved fixture of Gophers game days.

Dedicated in February 1928 as the University of Minnesota Field House, the building was renamed Williams Arena in 1950 to honor longtime football coach Henry L. Williams and has hosted Gophers basketball for nearly a century. Its signature raised court, sunken below the first row of seats, has been a hallmark since opening and gives The Barn a look unlike any other college gym. A 1997 renovation added 'barn loft' seating above the second deck, and the original playing surface was finally replaced with a new floor in 2009. Still one of the oldest arenas in Division I, it has outlasted most of its Big Ten contemporaries.