The Palestra has hosted more regular season or post-season NCAA men's basketball games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA tournaments than any other U.S. arena.
It is often called "the birthplace of college basketball".
It has hosted the East regionals six times (most recently in 1980), and the sub-regionals ten times (most recently in 1984).
In total, 52 NCAA Tournament games have been played at the gym since it first came to Penn's campus in 1939.

The Philadelphia Big 5 (Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, La Salle, Villanova) originally played all of its games at the Palestra.
Today, the intra-city conference still plays about half of its round-robin games there.
St. Joseph's hosts its Big 5 games at the gym, which is larger than its own, the Michael Hagan Arena previously known as the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.
During the 2008-09 basketball season Saint Joseph's played their home games at the Palestra while the then Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse was undergoing an extensive renovation to become the Hagan Arena.
 The annual Battle of 33rd Street between Penn and Drexel was also held at the Palestra until 2013, when the series was suspended due to a location dispute.
In 2015, the series resumed; however, it became a home-and-home series alternating between The Palestra and Daskalakis Athletic Center every year.

In addition, parts or all of the 1989-95 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball tournaments were contested there, as were the 1985 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament and the inaugural Ivy League men's and women's tournaments in 2017.
The gym has also served as the site of many Philadelphia and PIAA championship games.

The Palestra hosted a Big Ten Conference game between Michigan State and Penn State on January 7, 2017, with the "home-standing" Nittany Lions prevailing 72–63.

The 2017 Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament (March 11-12, 2017) and the 2018 Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament (March 10-11, 2018) were held at the Palestra.
The Palestra has hosted more regular season or post-season NCAA men's basketball games, more visiting teams, and more NCAA tournaments than any other U.S. arena. It is often called "the birthplace of college basketball". It has hosted the East regionals six times (most recently in 1980), and the sub-regionals ten times (most recently in 1984). In total, 52 NCAA Tournament games have been played at the gym since it first came to Penn's campus in 1939.
The Philadelphia Big 5 (Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, La Salle, Villanova) originally played all of its games at the Palestra. Today, the intra-city conference still plays about half of its round-robin games there. St. Joseph's hosts its Big 5 games at the gym, which is larger than its own, the Michael Hagan Arena previously known as the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. During the 2008-09 basketball season Saint Joseph's played their home games at the Palestra while the then Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse was undergoing an extensive renovation to become the Hagan Arena.  The annual Battle of 33rd Street between Penn and Drexel was also held at the Palestra until 2013, when the series was suspended due to a location dispute. In 2015, the series resumed; however, it became a home-and-home series alternating between The Palestra and Daskalakis Athletic Center every year.
In addition, parts or all of the 1989-95 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball tournaments were contested there, as were the 1985 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament and the inaugural Ivy League men's and women's tournaments in 2017. The gym has also served as the site of many Philadelphia and PIAA championship games.
The Palestra hosted a Big Ten Conference game between Michigan State and Penn State on January 7, 2017, with the "home-standing" Nittany Lions prevailing 72–63.
The 2017 Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament (March 11-12, 2017) and the 2018 Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament (March 10-11, 2018) were held at the Palestra.
Palestra