Fans of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team have given the McCarthey Athletic Center one of the most impressive home field advantages in college basketball.

In addition to selling out every home game since opening in 2004, no team has had a higher winning percentage at home over the past six seasons than the Bulldogs, who are 90-3 at the Kennel during that span and once won 75 consecutive games there during a five-year period from 2018 to 2023. The 6,000-seat arena has received national recognition for its unparalleled atmosphere from analysts and broadcasters who have experienced the Kennel Club firsthand during nationally televised games.

NCAA basketball insider Andy Katz was among the notable sports figures who praised The Kennel, ranking it No. 4 in his ranking of the best places to watch men’s college basketball beginning in 2022.

Despite having one of the best venues in the sport, Gonzaga fans were not included in Katz’s recent ranking of the 10 fan bases in college basketball for the 2024-25 season. Kentucky topped the list at No. 1 because Rupp Arena had the highest total attendance in 2022-23 (357,721 total attendees) and the Wildcats’ social media team ranks near the top in the sport overall. UConn and Kansas — the sport’s last two champions — ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in Katz’s hierarchy, followed by Duke and Purdue, the latter of which drew a lot of attention because two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey was on the roster.

Illinois, North Carolina, Indiana, Arkansas and Iowa State all made the top 10, while Auburn earned an honorable mention spot on the list. With the exception of Iowa State, all of these schools ranked in the top 10 in total attendance in 2022-23.

Of course, Gonzaga won’t be competing for one of the top spots in total attendance (which was 102,333 in 2022-23, up from 96,000 the year before), which might have cost it a spot in Katz’s fan base rankings. Six of his top 10 fan bases all ranked in the top 10 in attendance in 2022-23, with the exception of Duke, UConn, Purdue (No. 11) and Iowa State (No. 22).

Looking at social media follower counts, the official Gonzaga basketball account on X has around 230,300 followers. That’s more followers than the official men’s basketball accounts of Illinois (174,600), Purdue (162,500), Auburn (144,300) and UConn (129,000).

The talent and coaching on the court speak for themselves, but another key factor in Gonzaga’s unprecedented success over the past two decades is the support of the more than 6,000 fans at each home game, especially the 1,200 students of the Kennel Club.

“I don’t think that’s matched in any other gym I’ve ever been in,” Jason Rubright, a former Gonzaga men’s basketball player and key contributor to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1995, said of the Kennel Club. “The enthusiasm, the passion of the students and it’s just a really cool thing to be a part of the Kennel Club. You’re basically the sixth man.”