Dean E. Smith Center

The Dean E. Smith Center — the "Dean Dome" — in Chapel Hill is the home of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball. Opened in January 1986, the 300,000-square-foot arena is one of the largest on-campus basketball venues in the country. Despite its size, the bowl design and Tar Heel-blue seating keep the crowd close and loud for one of the sport's marquee programs. Banners commemorating national titles and retired numbers hang from the rafters, giving every game a museum-like sense of history.

The Dean Smith Center opened on January 18, 1986, with North Carolina beating rival Duke 95-92 in its first game, and it was later named for the legendary coach who built the Tar Heels into a national power. It houses one of the proudest programs in the sport, with multiple national-championship banners and alumni including Michael Jordan, who played his college ball at the arena's predecessor, Carmichael Auditorium, before helping christen the new building's era. Capacity has grown from its original 21,444 to the current 21,750 through incremental renovations.