Cole Field House

• Cole Field House Milestones
• Attendance Through the Years
• NCAA Tournaments at Cole

Its official name was the "William P. Cole Jr. Student Activities Building."

That is the name that can be read on the structure that still sits between the tennis courts and the university's student union, on the main thoroughfare of the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. It is no longer, however, the home of Maryland basketball, as it was for 47 years since December of 1955.

Everyone just called it "Cole." Like Kentucky, where the Wildcats play at "Rupp." Or in Westwood, where UCLA plays at "Pauley." The building is Cole Field House, even though that description appears nowhere officially. The nation's only on-campus arena to play host to multiple Final Fours, it has hosted numerous NCAA tournaments for basketball, volleyball and wrestling. It also hosted a U.S. vs. China ping-pong match in 1972 before a capacity crowd in what was the first sporting event held between the two nations; it hosted U.S. Presidents and, in September 1974, it even hosted Elvis.

Besides the all-black starting five of Texas Western taking the floor against Kentucky in the national championship game of 1966, Cole Field House was also home to the first black basketball players in the ACC -- Maryland's Billy Jones (1966-68) and Pete Johnson (1967-69).

Cole Was A House Of Horrors For No. 1 Teams
Cole Field House bears distinction as having hosted more upsets of No. 1-ranked teams than any building in the country.

When the No. 3-ranked Terrapins dispatched top-rated Duke on Feb. 27, 2002, it was Cole Field House's seventh game in which a No. 1 ranked team has fallen.

Including NCAA Tournament games, Notre Dame's Joyce Athletics & Convocation Center has hosted six No. 1 upsets and Oklahoma's Lloyd Noble Center has been the site of five.

At Cole, Maryland has beaten the nation's top team in six of those seven games. Also at Cole, No. 3-ranked Texas Western topped No. 1 Kentucky during the 1966 Final Four.

In 47 seasons, Terrapin teams were 486-151 at Cole Field House. A few of Cole's most memorable basketball moments:

1955
• Cole Field House dedicated at a cost of $3.3 million. Maryland defeats Virginia, 67-55, on Dec. 2 in the first game in the new facility.

1958
• Cole is home to the Atlantic Coast Conference champions and Maryland's first NCAA Tournament team.

1965
• Bill Bradley scored 41 points in the NCAA East Region championship game as Princeton topped Providence, 109-69.

1966
• Cole plays host to the NCAA Final Four. In the semifinals, Kentucky defeats Duke and Texas Western (now Texas-El Paso) defeats Utah. Texas Western then defeats Kentucky in one of the most historic championship games in history.

1970
• Cole plays host to the NCAA Final Four for the second time. UCLA defeats Jacksonville for the title as Sidney Wicks outduals Artis Gilmore. It was the fourth of UCLA's seven consecutive NCAA championships.

1971
• Maryland defeats No. 2 South Carolina, 31-30, in one of the great "slow-down" games in the history of Cole. Leading only 4-3 at halftime, Maryland needed a lay-up from Jim O'Brien to tie the game with five seconds to go in regulation and an 11-foot jumper from O'Brien to win the game with four seconds remaining in OT.

1972
• Cole is home to the National Invitation Tournament champions - the Maryland Terrapins.
• The Cole Field House single-game attendance record of 15,287 was set as Maryland played host to North Carolina on Feb. 16. Maryland won 79-77 in an overtime thriller.

1975
• Cole was the site of the first women's basketball game ever to be televised.

1979
• On Super Bowl Sunday, Larry Gibson sank a free throw with one second on the clock to boost the Terps past top-ranked Notre Dame, 67-66, on Jan. 27, 1979. Gibson scored 11 points that day while Ernest Graham scored 28 and Buck Williams grabbed 15 rebounds.

1984
• Cole is home to the ACC champion Terrapins.

1991
• In the NCAA Eastern Regional first round, 15th-seeded Richmond defeats No. 2 seed Syracuse, 73-69, in one of the great upsets in NCAA Tournament history. It was only the second time in the history of the tournament that a No. 15 seed had defeated a No. 2 seed.

1992
• On Jan. 15, 1992, No. 3 Maryland hosted No. 2 Virginia in a women's basketball shootout before a sellout crowd of 14,500. The game still stands as the ACC attendance mark for a women's game.
• Maryland defeats No. 10 North Carolina, 82-80, on a last-second tip-in by All-American Walt Williams. Williams put the Terps up 81-80 with 1.3 seconds remaining to lead the Terps past the Tar Heels in Cole for only the second time since the 1982-83 season.

1994
• Before a sellout crowd on March 5, Maryland defeats Virginia, 70-68, to clinch a fourth-place tie in the ACC standings and virtually assure its first NCAA Tournament bid under Gary Williams.

1995
• Maryland defeats No. 1 North Carolina, 86-73, in front of a sellout crowd and a national television audience.

1998
• Maryland defeats No. 1 North Carolina, 89-83 in overtime, as Laron Profit scores 19 points overall and six during an overtime period. It marks the second time in three years that the Terps beat No. 1 North Carolina in Cole.

1999
• Maryland sets a school record with 28 wins on the season, and the Terps host a record 14,455 fans per game at Cole. Junior sensation Steve Francis is named an All-American and later chosen as the second pick in the NBA draft.

2001
• Maryland defeats Virginia 102-67 in the final game of the regular season to mark the most lopsided win ever, in the longtime series against its ACC rival. One week later, the Terps advance to their eighth straight NCAA Tournament berth and bring back to College Park the first Final Four banner in school history.

2002
• Maryland defeats top-ranked Duke before a national television audience, 87-73, to take over first place in the ACC and mark the seventh time in Cole history that a No. 1 ranked team has been defeated.
• Maryland beats Virginia 112-92 to win its first ACC regular season title since 1980, in what is the final game at Cole. A standing-room only crowd witnesses an emotional postgame event with returning All-Americans commemorating Cole's final game, followed by a net-cutting ceremony to celebrate the Terps' league title.
• The NCAA Champion Terrapins return to Cole before a crowd of over 12,000 adoring fans, just hours after winning the first national championship in school history.

Cole Field House Milestones

Dedicated:	December 2, 1955
Capacity:	14,500 (Courtside Seats: 96)
First Game:	December 2, 1955
First Win:	December 2, 1955	Maryland 67, Virginia 55
First Loss:	December 15, 1955	Kentucky 62, Maryland 61
100th Game:	December 18, 1964	Maryland 82, Wake Forest 64
200th Game:	January 23, 1973	Maryland 100, Long Island 73
300th Game:	February 23, 1980	Maryland 82, Virginia 71
400th Game:	January 10, 1987	Virginia 71, Maryland 64
500th Game:	December 2, 1993	Maryland 89, UMBC 80
600th Game:	February 2, 2000	Maryland 91, Virginia 79
100th Victory:	February 25, 1970	Maryland 83, West Virginia 76
200th Victory:	December 28, 1977	Maryland 91, Western Kentucky 78
300th Victory:	November 23, 1985	Maryland 84, Northeastern 72
400th Victory:	December 23, 1995	Maryland 104, American 79
486th Victory:	March 3, 2002	Maryland 112, Virginia 92

Attendance Through The Years

Home Games Only				Total Season Games
Season	Games	Attendance	Avg.	Season	Games	Attendance	Avg.
1963-64	9	52,500	5,833	1963-64	26	132,200	5,084
1964-65	12	103,100	8,592	1964-65	26	185,500	7,135
1965-66	10	95,400	9,540	1965-66	25	221,000	8,840
1966-67	10	82,490	8,249	1966-67	25	164,390	6,576
1967-68	10	70,100	7,101	1967-68	24	144,950	6,040
1968-69	10	66,500	6,650	1968-69	26	152,005	5,746
1969-70	14	138,600	9,900	1969-70	26	221,153	8,506
1970-71	15	180,842	12,056	1970-71	26	273,553	10,521
1971-72	14	184,323	13,166	1971-72	32	352,436	11,014
1972-73	13	172,828	13,294	1972-73	30	340,964	11,365
1973-74	12	144,149	12,012	1973-74	28	301,164	10.756
1974-75	14	187,971	13,427	1974-75	29	314,341	10,839
1975-76	15	196,656	13,110	1975-76	28	343,785	12,278
1976-77	19	240,254	12,645	1976-77	27	325,777	12,066
1977-78	14	172,673	12,334	1977-78	28	305,001	10,893
1978-79	18	201,536	11,196	1978-79	30	316,449	10,548
1979-80	16	160,815	10,050	1979-80	31	317,559	10,242
1980-81	15	196,978	13,132	1980-81	31	398,036	12,840
1981-82	16	157,275	9,830	1981-82	29	286,264	9,871
1982-83	17	172,445	10,144	1982-83	30	308,340	10,278
1983-84	15	170,060	11,337	1983-84	32	353,551	11,048
1984-85	16	199,335	12,458	1984-85	37	393,459	10,634
1985-86	14	160,267	11,447	1985-86	33	335,937	10,180
1986-87	16	130,975	8,186	1986-87	26	241,118	9,274
1987-88	12	145,525	12,127	1987-88	31	355,597	11,471
1988-89	14	128,773	9,198	1988-89	29	276,604	9,538
1989-90	16	164,806	10,300	1989-90	33	306,339	9,293
1990-91	14	137,476	9,820	1990-91	28	267,401	9,550
1991-92	15	143,444	9,563	1991-92	29	323,755	11,164
1992-93	15	175,217	11,681	1992-93	28	321,673	11,488
1993-94	13	177,376	13,644	1993-94	30	360,993	12,033
1994-95	16	221,020	13,814	1994-95	34	437,268	12,861
1995-96	14	186,553	13,324	1995-96	30	399,616	13,321
1996-97	14	182,832	13,059	1996-97	32	388,300	12,134
1997-98	14	187,272	13,377	1997-98	32	446,213	13,944
1998-99	14	202,365	14,455	1998-99	34	473,626	13,930
1999-00	16	226,369	14,148	1999-00	35	503,648	14,390
2000-01	14	196,809	14,058	2000-01	36	528,916	14,692
2001-02	15	212,495	14,166	2001-02	36	623,898	17,331
Attendance records prior to 1963 are incomplete

NCAA Tournaments At Cole

1962 Eastern Regional

RSF: Wake Forest 96, St. Joseph's (Pa.) 85; Villanova 79, New York Univ. 76

RF: Wake Forest 79, Villanova 69

3P: New York Univ. 94, St. Joseph's (Pa.) 85

1963 Eastern Regional

RSF: [2] Duke 81, New York Univ. 76; St. Joseph's (Pa.) 97, West Virginia 88

RF: [2] Duke 73, St. Joseph's (Pa.) 69

3P: West Virginia 83, New York Univ. 73

1965 Eastern Regional

RSF: Princeton 66, North Carolina State 48; [4] Providence 81, St. Joseph's (Pa.) 73 (OT)

RF: Princeton 109, [4] Providence 69

3P: North Carolina State 83, St. Joseph's (Pa.) 81

1966 Final Four

NSF: [1] Kentucky 83, [2] Duke 79; [3] Texas Western 85, Utah 78

NF: [3] Texas Western 85, [1] Kentucky 65

3P: [2] Duke 79, Utah 77

1967 Eastern Regional

RSF: [4] North Carolina 78, [5] Princeton 70 (OT); [9] Boston College 63, St. John's 62

RF: [4] North Carolina 96, [9] Boston College 80

3P: [5] Princeton 78, St. John's 58

1968 First Round

1R: [8] Davidson 79, St. John's 70; Columbia 83, La Salle 69

1969 Eastern Regional

RSF: [4] North Carolina 79, [9] Duquesne 78; [5] Davidson 79, [8] St. John's 69

RF: [4] North Carolina 87, [5] Davidson 85

3P: [9] Duquesne 75, [8] St. John's 72

1970 Final Four

NSF: [4] Jacksonville 94, [3] St. Bonaventure 83; [2] UCLA 93, [5] New Mexico State 77

NF: [2] UCLA 80, [4] Jacksonville 69

3P: [5] New Mexico State 79, [3] St. Bonaventure 73

1977 Eastern Regional

RSF: [3] Kentucky 93, [20] Virginia Military 78; [5] North Carolina 79, [10] Notre Dame 77

RF: [5] North Carolina 79, [3] Kentucky 72

1991 Eastern Regional

1R: [14] Oklahoma State 67, New Mexico 54; NC State 114, Southern Mississippi 85; Temple 80, Purdue 63; Richmond 73, [7] Syracuse 69

2R: [14] Oklahoma State 73, NC State 64; Temple 77, Richmond 64

Legend: 1R-First Round; 2R-Second Round; RSF-Regional Semifinals; RF-Regional Final; NSF-National Semifinal; NF-National Final; 3P-Third Place

[ ] - brackets indicate AP rankings

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