I agree that many of the newer Big Ten venues are underwhelming and thus make Williams Arena, even with its warts competitive. The only Big Ten venues that are clearly better are:
-Maryland
-Nebraska
-Michigan State (maybe due to fans)
Wisconsin has an uninspiring tomb, OSU is a boring 1990s hockey arena, the rest are all relics as well, just more recent relics, $ spent putting lipstick on aging pigs. (illinois- best of the group, Crisler, Mackey, Carver-H, Penn State swung and missed, Indiana- should have bulldozed it with all that open space to build new)
Northwestern might be doing something that works for them though, as bad as Welsh Ryan was before they gutted it and started over, short of a full demolition, it could be good as a small type space.
The challenge in fixing Williams centers around space constraints due to footprint issues and the roof design.(and sight lines- overhangs and posts) I think some large open fan focused space could be created all the way out to the sidewalk on University and even back towards Oak Street that could be integrated into the seating areas to make a better experience. Improving flow and access to nice things is key even if the actual seating remains cramped. I'd be all for abandoning the old hockey space, moving Volleyball elsewhere, blowing out the wall and extending the whole thing to the west.
The problem is all of these things are very expensive, but possibly worth doing.
With Williams Arena, anything they could do to open up the outer walls to some new open concourse space with concessions, restrooms, Big TV screens, lounges, views to the outside, with some connection to the seating areas would help greatly, especially with some open views to the floor. A full demolition and new space would probably be way cheaper, but it might be great if done right.
The travesty is that the old building has some charm, but they ruined a lot of it over the years, with all of the 50s/ 60 era renovations- bricked up windows, ugly, cheap renovations, much like Wrigley Field until the recent renovations, looked nothing like a classic early 1900s stadium if you looked close.