Over a two-week span, were answering the following question for college basketballs 10 best conferences: Which venue in each conference is the toughest place to play? A number of factors, not just capacity and attendance, could affect a venues place in the order. Where does your school fall??Old versus new, NBA arena versus bandbox, the Big Easts arenas run the gamut. But as the conference proves, a building -- no matter how legendary -- is only as intimidating as the team on its court.10. DePaul Blue Demons: AllState Arena, opened in 1980Former No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Mark Aguirre isnt walking through that door. And neither is anyone else. Back when DePaul played at Alumni Hall and Ray Meyer patrolled the sidelines, games against the Blue Demons were an event in Chicago. Now? Its like walking into a library. Heres all you need to know about playing at DePaul: In the last 10 years, the Blue Demons have drawn more than 8,000 fans (still 10,000 shy of capacity) only four times. DePaul will get a new arena, the McCormick Place Event Center in 2017, complete with an overhanging student section to be dubbed the Demon Deck. Well see if the place will be demonic or docile.Fun fact: The first WWE pay-per-view event was held at the arena (then called the Rosemont Horizon) in 1985. The Junkyard Dog topped Randy Savage to win the wrestling classic, and a fan won a contest to win a car -- a Rolls-Royce, to be exact.9. St. Johns Red Storm: Madison Square Garden, opened in 1968 This ranking ought to come with an asterisk because, needless to say, Madison Square Garden is the most famous arena in college hoops. What should be the biggest advantage in all of sports never really plays out that way for the Red Storm. In 37 Big East seasons, St. Johns has won only three Big East titles. Worse in recent seasons, the Red Storm have devolved into irrelevancy, and the New York market, dying for a good basketball team to root for, simply doesnt care much about the team. Visiting teams, especially those within a drive or train, are apt to find more of their own fans than the home teams.Fun fact: There have been three Madison Square Gardens. Before the Vanderbilt family reclaimed its property -- located near Madison Square Park -- and renamed it, the original Garden was the baby of promoter P.T. Barnum. It was called Barnums Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome, which is kind of hard to fit on a marquee.8. Seton Hall Pirates: Prudential Center, opened in 2007Seton Halls arena is too nice. The Rock is easy to get to, right near the Newark Airport, and it has nice locker rooms and a pro-style look to it, all making it a nice place for opposing teams to visit. With an average of 7,000 fans filling the cavernous 18,000-seat arena, its not exactly a tough environment. Maybe as the Pirates, winners of the Big East tournament title this year, improve, that will change.Fun fact: City planners wanted the arena after fear arose that the New Jersey Devils would relocate to Nashville. Even as they won the Stanley Cup, the Devils failed to attract a crowd to the Continental Airlines Arena (now the Izod Center) in East Rutherford. When the Devils moved to the new building, so did Seton Hall.7. Georgetown Hoyas: Verizon Center, opened in 1997 Its tempting to rank the Verizon Center on what it was, and its potential, because when the Hoyas were really good, and when the place is full, its a really, really hard place to play. That just hasnt been the case lately, as Georgetown has lacked consistent success. In fact, fans of nearby opponents -- think Villanova -- can come up with tickets way too easily, their chants drowning out the home crowds.Fun fact: On March 26, 2006, playing in front of an extremely partisan crowd at the Verizon Center, George Mason upset UConn in the Elite Eight to become only the second double-digit seed to reach the Final Four.6. Marquette Golden Eagles: BMO Harris Bradley Center, opened in 1988 Frankly you could take Nos. 5-7, draw them out of a hat and any order would be fine. Marquette, like Seton Hall and Georgetown, is stuck in the same place, an NBA arena that can be a great place to play or it can be antiseptic depending on the quality of the team in any given season. The Bradley Center is fine for Marquettes purposes (though not for Adam Silvers. The NBA commissioner has deemed it unworthy of an NBA team, and the Bucks are financing a new spot) but nothing about it screams exceptional. Fans are generally devoted to the team, but aside from Milwaukee weather outside in the winter, its not exactly a scary place to visit.Fun fact: The Bradley Center was constructed in the hopes that the city could attract an NHL team. That never happened, largely because benefactors feared relying solely on an expansion draft would produce a lousy team.5. Villanova Wildcats: The Pavilion, opened in 1986 Accurately dubbed the Ski Lodge by Philadelphia Daily News columnist Dick Jerardi, the multipurpose Pavilion isnt much to look at and not exactly what pops in your mind when you think home of the national champions. The weird layout -- too high ceilings for good acoustics, (officially called a hyperbolic paraboloid roofline), an empty space used for indoor baseball training that sits behind the student section -- plus the wine-and-brie season ticket-holding fan base dont exactly add up to an intimidating atmosphere. To their credit, the Villanova students who fill the seats behind one basket do their best to make it noisy. The intimate atmosphere, it holds only 6,500, can make it a tough place to play.Fun fact: Maybe fun isnt the right word here, but the building was originally called du Pont Pavilion, named after John du Pont, a wealthy philanthropist and heir to the du Pont family fortune. His name was removed in 1997 after du Pont was convicted of murdering Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz.4. Creighton Bluejays: CenturyLink Center, opened in 2003Lets start with travel. Omaha is not exactly in the traditional Big East footprint, and getting there isnt easy for anybody. The travel alone can put opponents at a disadvantage. Add to it the Creighton faithful, who helped the Bluejays rank 10th nationally in attendance last season. The only disadvantage? Nebraskans arent mean like East Coasters. Creightons most famous fan was the late Mary Ann Filippi, known as The Dancing Grandma. Doesnt exactly inject terror, does it?Fun fact: The arena hosted the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in 2008, 2012 and 2016 despite not having a pool. Pool specialists converted the space into a temporary pool, and the Omaha Fire Department did the rest, spending upwards of 12 hours to fill the 1.7 million gallon pools using a nozzle attached to ladder trucks and nearby fire hydrants.3. Providence Friars: Dunkin Donuts Center, opened in 1972 The Dunk is not going to win any awards for aesthetics. Even with its 2008 renovations, it remains something of a dump, a bare-bones venue of 1970s origins. But Providence fans are not only faithful; they are pretty creative. In the 1990s, two fans dressed up for each game as The Blues Brothers (one eventually married the sister of the other, making them brothers-in-law). Theyre also pretty rough, spewing some creative things at opposing players. Playing up there is one of the roughest environments in our conference, Villanova coach Jay Wright has said. If thats not enough, the shiver-inducing, haunting Friar mascot is always looming on the sidelines.Fun fact: In 1979, mayor Buddy Cianci canceled a scheduled concert featuring The Who after 11 fans were trampled to death at an earlier Who concert in Cincinnati. I got plenty of hate mail over it, Cianci later said of the decision. But do I regret it? Not at all. For 33 years, the band never performed in Rhode Island until finally agreeing to appear at The Dunk in 2013. Anyone holding a ticket from the canceled show in 79 was allowed to attend. Thirty-two people, holding tickets at the 1979 price of $11.50, were given seats priced at $129.50.2. Butler Bulldogs: Hinkle Fieldhouse, opened in 1928 One of the cathedrals of the game, Hinkle remains one of the toughest places to play because of the one-two punch of history and present day relevance. You can practically feel the history of the place when you walk in, or at least see Gene Hackman measuring the hoop from Hoosiers. Plenty of old buildings lose both their charm and their intimidation as the home team loses its oomph (see St. Johns above). Thats not the case at Butler. The Bulldogs are still really good, their fans are still really smart and dedicated, and Hinkle is still really awesome.Fun fact: When Hinkle first opened, the court ran east to west but architects quickly changed the direction, realizing they could add more seats with a north-south configuration.1. Xavier Musketeers: Cintas Center, opened in 2000 One of the nicer and newer facilities in the league, Cintas Center somehow incorporates all of the trappings for todays fans -- luxury boxes, a VIP bar -- without sacrificing atmosphere. Xavier home games are always rocking and almost always full. This year, in fact, Musketeers fans quite literally overfilled the venue, averaging 10,281 fans or 100.3 percent of the places capacity. No surprise, Xavier was 15-1 at home this past season and is 43-6 in the past three years. Its also worth noting that the Crosstown Shootout brawl between Cincinnati and Xavier happened at the Cintas Center.Fun fact: Technically the Cleveland Cavaliers began their march to the NBA championship, and eradicating the citys sports misery, at Cintas Center. Thats where, after all, the Cavs played their first preseason game of last season, on Oct. 7. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Stitched NFL Jerseys . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. http://www.cheapnfljerseyschinawholesale.com/ . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons returned to practice Wednesday tied for the lead in the NFC South and all banged-up for the final month of the regular season.Coming off a disheartening loss to Kansas City, the Falcons (7-5) hit the field without top receiver Julio Jones and two other starters who were injured against the Chiefs.Jones is bothered by turf toe, left tackle Jake Matthews has a knee problem, and receiver Mohamed Sanu is slowed by a sore groin.On top of that, defensive end Adrian Clayborn is definitely out for Sundays game against the Los Angeles Rams and will likely miss several more weeks with a knee injury -- if he returns at all this season. The Falcons already lost their best defender, cornerback Desmond Trufant, to a season-ending pectoral injury.Thats the important part of having depth, coach Dan Quinn said. If youre called upon, youre here for a reason.Quinn said hes hopeful Jones, who has battled nagging injuries all season, will be able to practice Thursday and play against the Rams. Since a broken foot cost him most of the 2013 season, the receiver has missed only one game.Hes somebody that does a good job taking care of his body, Quinn said. He has a real ability to push it to get back. I know if hes able to, he certainly will.Even though turf toe is a painful condition that can lead to major issues, the coach stressed he doesnt think Jones case is that serious.This is something hes going to respond to quickly, the coach said. Its not a long-term thing hes going to be dealing with.As for Matthews and Sanu, Quinn said he would monitor their condition through the rest of the week and hopes they will be able to play against the Rams (4-8).Matthews went out in the first half of last weeks game. The trainers put a sleeve over his left knee, and he went through some running and cutting drills on the sideline to test it out.But Matthews headed to the locker room before halftime and didnt return. Tom Compton, a fourth-year player, got his first significant action of the seasson protecting quarterback Matt Ryans blind side.ddddddddddddompton turned in a solid performance, but the Falcons cant afford to lose Matthews for an extended period. The No. 6 overall pick in 2014, he had stepped up his play significantly this season.Jakes really playing at a high level, Quinn said. You can see it his pass protection. You can see it in the run game. His play took a significant jump from 2015 to 2016.Clayborn underwent surgery to repair a torn medial collateral ligament shortly after being hurt in a Nov. 27 game against Arizona. Quinn hasnt ruled out a return this season, but the Falcons moved to bolster their depth on the defensive line by bringing back Malliciah Goodman.A fourth-round pick in 2013, Goodman appeared in 34 games, including 11 starts, before he was cut in September near the end of training camp. He played one game this season at Seattle.The Falcons also promoted offensive lineman Kevin Graf from the practice squad in case Matthews isnt able to play Sunday. To make room on the roster for two new players, Atlanta waived defensive lineman Cliff Matthews and center Trevor Robinson.While there were no immediate moves to address the injuries to Jones and Sanu, Quinn noted hes got two receivers on the practice squad, Nick Williams and J.D. McKissic. Thats where Atlanta would turn if necessary.The Falcons have led the NFC South much of the season, but now theyve got company in the top spot. Tampa Bay (7-5) has won four straight to pull into a tie with Atlanta, which has lost two of its last three games.A year ago, the Falcons collapsed down the stretch after starting 6-1. They finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs for the third year in a row.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .---For more NFL coverage: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '