New Indoor Floor Creates Buzz

The University of Oregon recently unveiled the design for the floor of its new Matthew Knight Arena. It's anything but typical of a basketball court, and has been getting plenty of play among sports writers. The design gives the impression of looking up through a forest of pines (a reference to the UO 1939 NCAA Championship basketball team nicknamed the 'Tall Firs,' according to a press release from the university.)

Fun facts on the new floor, according to the press release are as follows:

• Floor is a Connor Sports Flooring Quicklock Portable Floor (also used for NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships)
• It is 6,944 square feet of Northern Hard Maple that is from an FSC Certified Forest
• There are 225 interlocking panels weighing approximately 45,000 total pounds

Source: University of Oregon