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{{Infobox stadium
| stadium_name      = Cassell Coliseum
| nickname          =
| image             = [[Image:Cassell Coliseum wide shot.jpg|300px]]
| location          = Washington Street & Spring Road<br>Blacksburg, VA 24061
| broke_ground      = 1961
| opened            = January 3, 1962
| closed            =
| demolished        =
| owner             = Virginia Tech
| operator          = Virginia Tech
| surface           = Hardwood
| construction_cost = $2.7 million<br>(${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|2700000|1962}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}})
| architect         = Carneal and Johnston
| general_contractor= T.C. Brittain and Company
| former_names      = VPI Coliseum (1962–1977)
| tenants           = Virginia Tech Hokies<br>([[Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball|Men]]'s & Women's Basketball)
| seating_capacity  = 9,847 (2004-present)<br>10,052 (1995-2004)<br>9,971 (1988-1995)<br>10,000 (1962-1988)
}}
'''Cassell Coliseum''' is a 9,847-seat multi-purpose [[arena]] in [[Blacksburg, Virginia]], [[United States]] that opened in 1962.  It is home to the [[Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University|Virginia Tech]] [[Virginia Tech Hokies|Hokies]] [[basketball]] [[team]]s (men's and women's).

==History==
Built as a replacement for the much smaller War Memorial Gymnasium, the Coliseum's construction began in 1961.  It was fully completed in December 1964 at a cost of $2.7 million.<ref>http://www.hokiesports.com/mbasketball/cassell.html</ref> It was designed by Carneal and Johnston (now Ballou Justice Upton Architects, Richmond, Va) and built by T.C. Brittain and Company of [[Decatur, Georgia]].  Originally just referred to as "the Coliseum," it was dedicated on September 17, 1977 to the late Stuart K. Cassell, former school business manager, first Vice President of Administration, and major supporter of the building of the arena.

The first game was on January 3, 1962 when the [[Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball|Hokies]] played [[Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball|Alabama]].  The Hokies won 91-67.  Unfortunately, the crowd sat on the concrete floor to watch the game because the seats had not arrived.
[[Image:Cassell Coliseum inside wide angle.jpg|left|thumb|Cassell Coliseum]]

In the early years of the Coliseum, the Hokies frequently saw capacity crowds pack the venue.  However, student and alumni interest in basketball decreased in the 1990s due to the Hokies' lack of a stable basketball conference home (the Hokies were in three different conferences in nine seasons) and due to the success of the [[Virginia Tech Hokies football|football team]].  Fan support has begun to gain momentum under coach [[Seth Greenberg]] and the school's recent move to the [[Atlantic Coast Conference|ACC]]. A raucous [[student section]], nicknamed the "Cassell Guard," has helped transform the Coliseum into a difficult venue for opposing teams in an athletic conference ripe with intimidating basketball arenas. 

On April 17, 2007, a memorial convocation was held there in response to the [[Virginia Tech massacre|shootings of 32 students and faculty]] on the Virginia Tech campus the previous day.

==Major games==
[[File:Cassell Coliseum Scoreboard.JPG|right|thumb|Scoreboard of the VT - Duke Upset]]
Arguably the biggest game that took place at Cassell Coliseum occurred on February 17, 2005, during [[Virginia Tech]]'s first season in the [[Atlantic Coast Conference]].  In their first meeting at [[Cameron Indoor Stadium]] on January 30, the [[Duke Blue Devils men's basketball|Duke Blue Devils]] beat the Hokies by two points.  Coming into [[Blacksburg, Virginia|Blacksburg]], the Blue Devils were ranked seventh nationally.  By the end of the night, the Blue Devils were handed a 67-65 loss to the Hokies in front of 9,847 fans.  It was the first time that Virginia Tech had beaten Duke since 1966.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33701-2005Feb17.html</ref>
  
However, there is one recent game that might challenge for this prominency.  On January 13, 2007, Virginia Tech defeated the number one ranked [[2006–07 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team|North Carolina Tar Heels]] by a score of 94-88.  At one point in the game, the Hokies led by 29 points.  They were able to hold off a strong surge by the Tar Heels to seal the victory.

On March 22, 2010, Virginia Tech beat UConn in Cassell on national television in the second round of the NIT tournament. Trailing 63-62, the Hokies' defense pressured Connecticut into a backcourt violation. With 14.1 seconds remaining, the Hokies took the lead with a Dorenzo Hudson jump shot. The Hokies' defense was able to stop Connecticut from scoring for a 65-62 victory.

On February 26, 2011, Duke fell to Virginia Tech by a score of 64-60.  At the time Duke was the number one ranked team in the country.  It was Virginia Tech's fourth upset of a number one ranked team under Seth Greenberg.

The largest crowd ever at the Cassell was 11,500 for a game against [[Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball|Purdue]] on December 3, 1966.

==See also==
{{Portal|College basketball}}{{commons|Cassell Coliseum}}
* [[Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University]]
* [[Virginia Tech campus]]
* [[Virginia Tech Hokies]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.unirel.vt.edu/buildings/maps/cassell-map.html Cassell's Location]
*[http://www.hokietickets.com/cassell.html Cassell Seating Chart]

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[[Category:Athletics]]
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