Breaking ground in 1975 and opening in 1977, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights have called the RAC home for over 40 years. However, in its existence the building has never seen what the men’s basketball team is currently doing. For the moment, Rutgers not only presents the best home record in the nation at 14-0 (a program record), but for the first time in program history the Scarlet Knights have sold out five consecutive games at the RAC.

“They [the fans] make it a real tough place to play,” Pikiell said in his postgame press conference on Dec. 14 after his team had manhandled rival Seton Hall by a final score of 68-48. “When the RAC was jumping like that all the good things about Rutgers University you saw today here.”

Now in his tenth season as Head Coach of Seton Hall, Kevin Willard has an understanding of what going up against Rutgers at the RAC is like. However, even he was thrown off by the type of atmosphere that the fans created in their most recent matchup.

“I didn’t do a very good job getting these guys ready for this atmosphere,” Willard said after the game. “We talked about it a little bit, I didn’t want to kind of get them thinking about it but I didn’t do a good enough job to get them to understand what this game and what this atmosphere is like. I’ve been here now 13 times I should have done a better job.”

Shaped in the form of a truncated tent, the newly dubbed “Trapezoid of Terror” holds a capacity of about 8,000 people. Thanks in part to the design of the building, when the RAC is at full capacity it is viewed upon as being one of the loudest arenas in all of college basketball.

“The Scarlet Knights play great there, and the crowd is right on top of you and intimidating,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas has previously said in regards to the home court advantage that the RAC provides.

In a tweet shared by Griffin Whitmer, the RAC has hit noise levels of 106 dB against Indiana, 106 dB against Minnesota, and 110 dB after Geo Baker’s game-winning three on Jan. 25 that allowed Rutgers to beat Nebraska by a final score of 75-72. To put things into perspective, the RAC has hit decibel levels that are considered “very noisy” to almost “pain” on the threshold of hearing scale.

“For our guys to come in here and battle, this team’s 13-0 in this building for a reason,” Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg said after his team’s loss. “It’s a crazy environment for our guys to keep our poise, I know it’s tough for them to hear this but if our guys continue to play like that we’re going to get over the hump here soon.”

With an overall record of 15-5 and 6-3 in conference play Rutgers is currently tied for second with Maryland in the Big Ten Standings and ranked 25th in the nation. Compared to years past this Scarlet Knights team is not viewed upon as being a stepping stone for many of their conference foes, but rather a hurdle that they must overcome and the RAC has played a huge role in that.

“Obviously the RAC has been a huge advantage for us the students are awesome,” Pikiell said after the win over Nebraska. “Our community come out and it makes a huge difference, we needed every person today and they helped us.”