What top Universities are you talking about? UNC, IU, UCLA, UL, Texas, UConn?
Rupp is just as loud and intimidating as any of those, and I would say they are all elite basketball programs, with Texas being the only one that's even debatable.
Some of the seats my family has were moved when the Erruption zone was created. It wasn't that big of a deal because those seats weren't used by us that much anyway, however ticket prices increased even though the quality of seating didn't. Those two seats were moved to the opposite end, they kept them for a couple of years and just recently dropped them. Now we still have two seats in the LL but if the student section were to be moved again, as would our seats, I honestly doubt my parents would renew the tickets. It's just to much cash to give away when the reward keeps declining.
My point is that if Rupp was never intimidating, like you claim. Yet UK has still managed to win 90% of their games there since 75. It just doesnt seem worth it for the school to put theirself in a financially bad situation, just because it might make the game atmosphere a little more exciting. Personally if it were anything like Cameron, I would leave every game with a headache. Long story short, if it ain't broken, don't try to fix it.