The Palestra or Hinkle Fieldhouse?

The Palestra and Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse are two of the oldest college basketball arenas in the country and thus have often been compared to one another. The Palestra (opened in 1927) has hosted more college games than any other venue in the country, and Hinkle (opened in 1928) served as the largest arena until 1950, holding 15,000. (It now seats 10,000.)

In today's Daily Pennsylvanian, I compared the experiences of watching a game in both places after witnessing the Bulldogs beat the Quakers in Indianapolis on Jan. 2 (see column). Here, I'll give you a side-by-side visual comparison:

View from the nosebleeds, or the furthest seats from the action in each arena:

Two of the most noticeable features each showcases are its majestic rafters and skylights. Unfortunately, the Penn-Butler game was at night and Hinkle's skylight isn't easily discernible:

The scoreboard of each arena. The Palestra did add a new videoboard on the opposite end, but the original remains behind the student section. At Hinkle, the scoreboard hangs over the court:

Literally the worst seat in each place, though neither is actually terrible!

Even from the outside, the Palestra and Hinkle have their similarities -- though it must be noted that Hinkle is a mammoth building that stands out in the middle of a small Indianapolis neighborhood, while the Palestra is somewhat overshadowed by its surroundings, particularly Franklin Field, and is significantly smaller in size anyway: