Even though ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ was playing its second true road game of the season Sunday, the Wildcats were hardly facing a hostile crowd inside the Coleman Coliseum.
Only 9,581 fans were announced at the 15,383-seat arena, the Alabama students were a limited factor, and the band was stationed in a corner. It wasn't until the last two minutes, when it was clear to everybody in the building that the Tide could pull out a win, that the place even get remotely noisy.
Greg Byrne may be able to change that. In August, he announced a planned $115 million renovation to Coleman Coliseum that involves cutting about 5,000 seats by moving in the gently sloping upper sideline seating area, and adding a plush area for donors to dine before and during the games.
“The bones of the arena are good,†Byrne said Sunday. “We’ll move it in much closer and make it more intimate, and we're gonna put students down to the floor from baseline to baseline. It will kind of have a feel a bit like (Oregon’s) Matthew Knight Arena has, where the students are on top of you.â€
In August, Alabama coach Avery Johnson could hardly hold back when talking about it.
“Greg has a great vision. He’s had great leadership,†Johnson said. “I’m fired up. I’m fired up about what it’s going to look like, what it’s going to do for recruiting, what it’s going to do for fan experience.â€