Xavier REMOVES City-Skyline Background

A few entries down, I wrote about DePaul becoming the latest school to feature a city-skyline background (in this case, of Chicago) on its court. Now, via Uni-Watch and Matt Rachmiel, comes word that Xavier will have a new floor that no longer includes the Cincinnati skyline. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that a university basketball court has removed a skyline.

Uni-Watch 2017-18 NBA Preview (Courts as Well as Uniforms)

Uni-Watch's annual NBA preview includes not just uniform changes, but also those to floor designs. In particular, the new courts for the Cavaliers (with a shield-type logo at center-court) and 76ers (with the "76" painted directly onto the hardwood rather than embedded inside a white basketball) look very sharp and distinctive to me.

Impromptu Court at U. of Minnesota for WNBA Lynx Postseason

If you didn't catch any of this season's WNBA playoff games hosted by the Minnesota Lynx, including last night's exciting championship-decider between the Lynx and the Los Angeles Sparks, then you missed an impromptu floor combining one team's color and design scheme for the main, in-bounds playing surface and another's for the surrounding out-of-bounds area.

According to this St. Paul Pioneer Press article, "The Lynx were... at [the University of Minnesota's] Williams Arena this postseason because Target Center’s renovations weren’t yet complete and Minnesota had to evacuate Xcel Energy Center – the team’s original home this summer – because the [National Hockey League's] Wild were set to start training camp."

As a result, you had solid-painted keys and the Golden Gophers' large angular midcourt "M" in maroon with yellow trim, framed by a bold rectangle in the Lynx's shade of blue. The court appears in the game highlights here. For an impromptu court, I don't think it looked too bad.

Sacramento Kings to Use Three Court Designs (Primary and Two Alternates)

Via Uni-Watch, the Sacramento Kings will have a different floor -- three in total -- to match whatever home uniform they're wearing in a particular game.

DePaul Joins Skyline Club, Wichita St. Spruces Up

Via the usual sources...

To mark DePaul basketball's return to the city of Chicago (although not the school's Lincoln Park neighborhood) after nearly 40 years at the Rosemont Horizon/Allstate Arena, the floor at the new Wintrust Arena will feature the Chicago skyline.

Other schools with the home city's skyline on their courts include:

• The Citadel (featuring Charleston, South Carolina's Ravenel Bridge)
• IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis). 
• University of Denver
• University of Memphis
• University of Missouri-Kansas City
• University of Washington (Seattle)
• Xavier (Cincinnati) 

The Sun Belt Conference's tournament court has included the New Orleans skyline.

The NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers used to sport the city's skyline on their court.

Am I missing any?

On a separate matter, here's a time-lapse video of Wichita State sprucing up its floor to recognize its new membership in the American Athletic Conference and put the title "Devlin Court" on the floor.

UCLA Brings Back Old Center-Circle Design

Via the usual sources, UCLA is bringing back its old "UC-LA" center-circle design. When Pauley Pavilion reopened in 2012 after a major renovation, the school switched to a cursive "Ucla" with an underline flourish, in which "BRUINS" was embedded.

Drexel Tones Down Its Dragon Logo

Via the usual sources, Drexel University's fire-breathing Dragon logo at midcourt is being toned down. A previous entry on this blog, depicting Drexel's logo at the time (and the University of Alabama-Birmingham's similar one), has long been one of my top-five most-viewed postings (see right-hand column). The new court will look like this.