Oakland Zoo (cheering section)

The Oakland Zoo is the student cheering section for the University of Pittsburgh men's and women's basketball teams. The Zoo cheers on the Panthers from the bottom tier of the stands at the Petersen Events Center, primarily across from the teams' benches and on the baselines under the baskets. The "Pete" holds a rowdy crowd of 1,500 students that are typically uniformly clad in gold t-shirts, and the Zoo student section is consistently sold out for Panthers home games. The Oakland Zoo is named after Oakland, the neighborhood in which the university is located. The name "Oakland Zoo" is used for the basketball cheering sections only; the football cheering section has often used the title, "The Panther Pitt."

The Oakland Zoo has been noted as being one of the most formidable student cheering sections in college basketball. The Zoo has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, and has been featured on ESPN in various segments including ESPNU Campus Connection Week on January 19, 2009, ESPN Student Spirit Week on January 16, 2007, and ESPN "College Basketball GameDay" on January 13, 2007. According to an anonymous poll of league players published by Sports Illustrated, the Oakland Zoo has helped make the Petersen Events Center the "Toughest Place to Play" in the Big East Conference. Anonymous players in the article were quoted describing the Oakland Zoo with the following descriptions: "The fans get there early to start heckling you. It's like a zoo." and "The student section is next to the court, and the fans there say some creative stuff." In 2013, the Petersen Events Center, with specific mention of the Oakland Zoo, was ranked as the nation's second best game atmosphere arena by USA Today. Some members of the Oakland Zoo have been known to wear body paint, wigs, masks, or animal-themed costumes that have included, at various times, giraffes, moose, penguins, gorillas, bears, among other species.

...
Wikipedia