Here's my take.
A) Bac2therac....he provides an extremely detailed NCAA bracket projection and understands basketball. In general, you have to be watching games beyond your own school, to have good discussions.
B) The Big East.....the Big East has the most iconic history in the modern college basketball era and has a small history with RU involved in it. As part of that, RU fans can say they have seen great programs, great players coming through the RAC over the years. Even if RU wasn't good, most RU fans know what a good program looks like, by playing top opponents most nights.....while there weren't epic nights in the Big East tournament, if I say "Billet", certain immediate moment on where you were, come to mind, whether at MSG or watching that game somewhere.
C) The RAC.....while many deem the building too old or missing what's needed, it gives RU an actual identity. For years, it has been "if you can ever get things going there, the sleeping giant etc"....the combination of reasonably good basketball combined with the RAC, probably makes it one of the best arenas in the B1G or Big East.
Outside of the Carrier Dome, Cameron Indoor, Assembly Hall, Dean Dome (Carolina), Pauley Pavilion, the Phog (Kansas/Allen Fieldhouse) and Rupp Arena (Kentucky), there are some places aligned with memorable games....But beyond the actual teams, the arenas hold a lot of real thoughts of many games. Not a lot of arenas are directly tied to their programs, like the RAC and RU hoops.
The RAC has a chance if Pike can continue sustaining success, to be one of the toughest buildings in all of College basketball. While that seems overhyped a bit, it really is true.
Mackey Arena at Purdue and others hold that "tough place to play", label.
There is basketball knowledge and if the arena was too big, rarely sold out and not loud, I think the RU active board would not be there. The RAC is an actual event, if it's a combination of either ranked opponent coming in vs the RU underdog.....OR the games where RU is good and so is the opponent....and probably contributes to the action on this board....it is an arena that you leave after an exciting game and feel like you saw something or got your money's worth.