January 1st, 1927 marked the opening game held at The Palestra. The University of Pennsylvania Quakers competed against future Ivy League foe, the Yale University Bulldogs, emerging victorious, 26-15! The sold out crowd of 10,000 packed to the very last bleacher marked the largest crowd ever to watch basketball in the Eastern United States. The Palestra would go on to host hundreds of sold out crowds over the years as excitement for the game of basketball grew exponentially. In 1929, the NCAA decided to run a post-season tournament, the predecessor of what would eventually become college basketball’s most anticipated and prestigious event. The Eastern semi-finals of 1939 would be the first of 52 NCAA tournament games played on the Palestra floor, a number unsurpassed by any other college arena in America.
