Murray's Sunday List: Where does Lawlor rank in top 10 MW arenas?

Every Sunday, Reno Gazette-Journal sports columnist Chris Murray will count down a top-10 list. This week's list counts down the 10 best basketball arenas in the Mountain West (because I'm fortunate enough to have visited each of them multiple times, so I'm pretty familiar with each).

1. Colorado State's Moby Arena: I don't think most MW writers would put Moby Arena atop the list, but I like this arena, which opened in 1966 but has undergone multiple renovations and looks new. The capacity (8,745) isn't huge, but it feels like a West Coast Conference arena: smaller and clean, with fans on top of the action. The floor design is awesome, too. It's a good size for a MW arena and has modern touches, including a touch board on the concourse that includes bios of every Rams Hall of Famer.

2. Fresno State's Save Mart Center: The newest of the MW's 11 arenas, the Save Mart Center opened in 2003 at a construction cost in excess of $100 million. It's an NBA-level arena, with 30 executive suites and all the bells and whistles you'd like in an arena. So, why isn't it No. 1? For a MW arena, it's simply too large at 16,182 capacity (Fresno is lucky to draw 5,000 to a game). Outside of that, it's perfect.

3. New Mexico's The Pit: With the playing floor 37 feet below street level, The Pit (officially named WisePies Arena) is the loudest of the MW arenas. It underwent a $60 million renovation in 2011, adding 40 luxury suites and 365 club seats. The renovation integrated the practice facility so players can walk seamlessly between the two facilities. The renovation moved the historic arena into the 21st century.

4. Wyoming's Arena-Auditorium: Another recently renovated arena, Arena-Auditorium underwent a $10 million facelift before this season. Another $20 million comes in phase two. The first portion of the renovation improved the inside of the arena, with two huge scoreboards and an impressive weight room built under the stands. A club level and massive renovations of the exterior await in phase two.

5. San Diego State's Viejas Arena: Built in 1997, making it one of the MW's newer facilities, Viejas Arena is one of just three arenas in the conference to host an NCAA Tournament game (two more have hosted a NCAA women's tournament game). Viejas has the perfect capacity (12,414) and would have been higher on this list just a few years ago before the renovations at The Pit and Arena-Auditorium.

6. UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center: The host of the MW Tournament, the Thomas & Mack Center is starting to show its age, years and years of around-the-clock events taking some shine off the arena, which opened in 1983 and was renovated in 1999. Thomas & Mack, which has about 100 event days a year, will get a much-needed $47 million face-lift by 2016 to bring it up to the MW standard.

7. Boise State's Taco Bell Arena: The Big Burrito is one of the three MW arenas to host an NCAA Tournament game, doing so in eight years. The NCAAs are coming back to Boise in 2018 as well. So, why is Taco Bell Arena so low? Opened in 1982, it's in need of a face-lift. It's still a very nice arena but doesn't have the same modern feel as the others on the list that have been upgraded this decade.

8. Nevada's Lawlor Events Center: Built the same year as Thomas & Mack, Lawlor has been a fine home for Nevada for the last 31 years, but it's clearly not a top-half arena in the MW, not with the above listed arenas either being relatively new or undergoing major changes in recent years. Lawlor could use a renovation, too, but that's pretty low on the pecking order as the Wolf Pack works on Mackay Stadium first. One thing Lawlor could really use is a new court. That surface is a few years overdue for a change.

9. Utah State's Dee Glen Smith Spectrum: The third-oldest arena in the MW, the Spectrum opened in 1970 and was renovated in 1988. It's a lot like Lawlor Events Center in that it's a fine arena but there's really nothing special about it, although the glass front to the arena is pretty nice.

10. Air Force's Clune Arena: It's small (capacity 5,858) and old (built in 1968) and sits in the same building as the hockey arena, which is both odd and little cool. The lighting isn't great and the arena tends to be mostly empty unless the cadets come to the game (then it can get rowdy).

Next five (truncated to one since there are only 11 MW schools): San Jose State's The Events Center (it's a glorified high school gym).