Which G5 school has the best facilities, and how do they compare to the average P5 school?

In before the ULaLa fans arrive.

(05-09-2014 09:15 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  In before the ULaLa fans arrive.

I'll put in my vote for Boise State before they arrive. They have a sexy new football complex.

I'll definitely throw ECU in the ring.

I think top 8 are:

ECU
BYU
UConn
Cincy
UCF
Boise
USF
SMU

I'm confident its not Kent State, cause they are asking for money to help make their facilities better, and if they already had the best facilities, they wouldn't have to do that.

(05-09-2014 09:58 PM)NBPirate Wrote:  I'll definitely throw ECU in the ring.

I think top 8 are:

ECU
BYU
UConn
Cincy
UCF
Boise
USF
SMU

BYU would be first
Cincinnati second with the football expansion
Houston should be third
UCF fourth shiny new in campus facilities
Colorado State and UNLV will be at least top six if the proposed stadiums get built.
USF
Boise and Fresno State is a wash
Western Michigan if you add hockey

(05-09-2014 09:15 PM)CougarRed Wrote:  In before the ULaLa fans arrive.

LOL....obviously we would not be renovating EVERY venue to the tune of 150 million plus dollars if we had the best facilities....now after it gets done........we shall see

Obviously, BYU has the biggest football stadium outside the P5. And maybe the biggest basketball arena too. I've never been to BYU, but I could understand why anyone would rank them 1st in the "G5."

I am most familiar with the schools in the American Conference. Here's how they break down:

UConn

Rentschler Field was built in 2003 for $91M. It holds 40,000, and is way off campus.

In 2006, UConn opened the Burton Family Football Complex and the Shenkman Training Center. Togther, these practice facilities cost $48M.

Gampel Pavilion was built on campus in 1990 and seats just over 10,000. UConn plays some games at the 16,000 seat XL Center (Hartford Civic Center.

UConn is finishing a $32M basketball practice complex for both the men and women's teams called the Champions Center.

Cincinnati

Nippert Stadium opened in 1915 and now seats 35,000. Cincy will play off campus in 2014 as Nippert currently undergoes an $85M expansion that will add luxury seating and bring capacity near 40,000.

In 2006, Cincy opened the Lindner Center, part of the $105M Lindner Varsity Village. The Lindner Center serves as the home for all of the sports programs as well as the centralized support services.

Cincy plays basketball at Fifth Third Arena, built in 1989. The arena seats over 13,000.

SMU

SMU opened 32,000 Ford Stadium in 2000 at a cost of $42M. In addition, they also opened the adjoining Lloyd All Sports Center which serves as the home for all SMU sports.

In 2008, SMU built the $13M Crum Basketball Center which houses coach offices, team rooms, practice courts, etc.

And in 2014, SMU finished a $47M renovation of Moody Coliseum.

UCF

UCF opened Brightouse Networks Stadium in 2007. The stadium seats 45,000 and cost $55M to build. UCF previously built the Wayne Densch football fieldhouse and Nicholson indoor practice facility in 2004-05 for approximately $10M.

That same year, UCF opened CFE Arena as the new home for its basketball program. The arena seats 10,000 and cost $107M. In 2008, UCF built a basketball practice facility adjoining the arena.

East Carolina

East Carolina has expanded Dowdy-Ficklen stadium in phases over the last 15 years, bringing capacity from 35,000 to 50,000 along with other improvements at a cost of approximately $50M.

East Carolina just finished a $17M basketball practice facility in 2013.

USF

In 2004, USF opened the $15M Selmon Center, home for athletics. USF built the Frank Morsani football complex in 2011 for $4M. USF plays football off campus at Raymond James Stadium.

USF renovated the Sun Dome for $36M in 2012. The year before, USF opened the Muma basketball practice facility.

Houston

The $30M Moores Athletic Complex, opened in 1995, serves as home for UH sports.

UH will open its new $120M football stadium this fall.

A $20M basketball practice facility will break ground in the next few months and is scheduled to open by late 2015.

UH is currently fundraising for a $50M renovation to Hofheinz Pavilion.

Memphis

Memphis plays off campus at two fine facilities, the Fex Ex Forum and Liberty Bowl.

Since 2000, basketball has practiced at the Larry Finch Center. Football is housed at the Billy Murphy Complex.

The others

Temple plays football off campus. They use the Edberg Olson Hall as home base for football operations. The Liacouras Center is a really nice campus basketball arena.

Tulsa built the Reynolds Center for basketball in 1998 for $28M. It seats 8355. From 2005-2008, Tulsa renovated the old Skelly Stadium at a cost in excess of $20M, rebranding as Chapman Stadium with the Case Athletic complex in the North end zone.

Tulane is building a new campus football stadium (Yulman Stadium) for 2014 at a cost of $75M. It will have 25,000 seats.

Hawaii should be in the top 10.

Aloha Stadium: 50,000 chair back seats (no bleachers), many food options, views of Pearl Harbor and the Ko'olau Mountains.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/a...adium-s379

Stan Sheriff Center: 10,300 chair back seats (no bleachers), many food options, new HD Jumbotron scoreboard

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/s...enter-s534

Les Murakami Stadium: 4,312 chair back seats with cupholders (no bleachers), new HD Jumbotron scoreboard, Diamond Head view

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/l...dium-s1117

Akron's stadium opened in 2009 and is probably the nicest one in the MAC.
http://www.gozips.com/athletics/facilities/InfoCision

Their IPF is just a few years older and is large enough to contain a regulation sized track for track meets.
http://www.gozips.com/athletics/facilities/stile

This is a very tough thread to declare a winner because best facilities to a degree is in the eye of a beholder.

IMO, any school that doesn't have an OCS should be automatically disqualified from the conversation as well as no IPF.

1. On Campus football stadium
2. Indoor Practice Facility
3. Basketball Arena
4. Basketball Practice Facility

Very few schools have all 4 of these built. In the MAC the only school I can think of is Toledo though a couple like Ball State and Ohio are on the verge of having basketball practice facilities built.

From the list of schools that people are working with on here it sounds like UCF or SMU might have the best overall facilities. A lot of G5 schools are upgrading and those who can't are going to be left behind.

(05-10-2014 08:20 AM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Akron's stadium opened in 2009 and is probably the nicest one in the MAC.
http://www.gozips.com/athletics/facilities/InfoCision

Their IPF is just a few years older and is large enough to contain a regulation sized track for track meets.
http://www.gozips.com/athletics/facilities/stile

Akron doesn't have a basketball practice facility. To be in the running a school has to have an indoor football facility and a basketball practice facility at a minimum.

ECU is out with no indoor practice facility. Cincinnati is out because they practice football in a bubble.

(05-10-2014 08:20 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  This is a very tough thread to declare a winner because best facilities to a degree is in the eye of a beholder.

IMO, any school that doesn't have an OCS should be automatically disqualified from the conversation as well as no IPF.

1. On Campus football stadium
2. Indoor Practice Facility
3. Basketball Arena
4. Basketball Practice Facility

Very few schools have all 4 of these built. In the MAC the only school I can think of is Toledo though a couple like Ball State and Ohio are on the verge of having basketball practice facilities built.

From the list of schools that people are working with on here it sounds like UCF or SMU might have the best overall facilities. A lot of G5 schools are upgrading and those who can't are going to be left behind.

UCONN has top G5 facilities and better than many P5 ones as well.

Two years ago, ESPN ranked UCONN's football facilities only behind Louisville in the former Big East. http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_...facilities

With the new basketball Champions Center being built (http://www.uconnbasketballcenter.com/), a $35 million renovation to the XL Center (Huskies' second home), and Gampel considered a top 25 arena by many, UCONN's basketball facilities are better than most P5 programs.

Check out Toledo's facilities. They compare favorably to the AAC.



Glass Bowl Facts
Completed: 1937
Last Major Renovation: 1990
Cost to Build in 1937: $313,558
Cost to Renovate in 1990: $18.5 million
Original Seating Capacity: 8,000
Current Official Seating Capacity: 26,248
Largest Crowd: 36,852 (2001 vs. Navy)
Private Suites: 45
Stadium Club Seating: 300
Media Seating: 108
Surface: Field Turf




http://www.coachtk.com/fetterman.html

Savage Arena is only 7,300 seats but has basketball suites

(05-10-2014 08:43 AM)HuskyU Wrote:  

(05-10-2014 08:20 AM)Kittonhead Wrote:  This is a very tough thread to declare a winner because best facilities to a degree is in the eye of a beholder.

IMO, any school that doesn't have an OCS should be automatically disqualified from the conversation as well as no IPF.

1. On Campus football stadium
2. Indoor Practice Facility
3. Basketball Arena
4. Basketball Practice Facility

Very few schools have all 4 of these built. In the MAC the only school I can think of is Toledo though a couple like Ball State and Ohio are on the verge of having basketball practice facilities built.

From the list of schools that people are working with on here it sounds like UCF or SMU might have the best overall facilities. A lot of G5 schools are upgrading and those who can't are going to be left behind.

UCONN has top G5 facilities and better than many P5 ones as well.

Two years ago, ESPN ranked UCONN's football facilities only behind Louisville in the former Big East. http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_...facilities

With the new basketball Champions Center being built (http://www.uconnbasketballcenter.com/), a $35 million renovation to the XL Center (Huskies' second home), and Gampel considered a top 25 arena by many, UCONN's basketball facilities are better than most P5 programs.

Disqualified.

My two cents.

A dedicated basketball practice facility isn't always going to be relevant. If you aren't having to move practices to accommodate other events a hoops practice facility really doesn't make sense. It comes down to how the basketball arena is used.

From what I've seen, it appears to me that a number of indoor practice facilities are not usable for any part of the kicking game. AState's facility (currently under construction) is supposed to be adequate to work on field goals and extra points but punters aren't going to be able to go 100%.

AState isn't in the best facilities hunt. If we were wouldn't be building an indoor facility right now, getting ready to put in a new video board, starting construction on a new press box in November (going from 5,000 sq ft to 40,000 or 45,000 depending on which bid solicitation you look at) with indoor/outdoor club seating, suites, and TV production facility. Plus we wouldn't be looking at starting construction on a new football office/locker room/meeting/training facility next year.

Until I see the final product I reserve judgment on how we stack up.

(05-10-2014 09:03 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  My two cents.

A dedicated basketball practice facility isn't always going to be relevant. If you aren't having to move practices to accommodate other events a hoops practice facility really doesn't make sense. It comes down to how the basketball arena is used.

Every school practices, whether they have a dedicated practice facility or not. This thread is about which G5 schools have the best facilities.

Schools that choose to spend $10-30M on their basketball facilities are relevant to this discussion.

(05-10-2014 09:03 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  My two cents.

A dedicated basketball practice facility isn't always going to be relevant. If you aren't having to move practices to accommodate other events a hoops practice facility really doesn't make sense. It comes down to how the basketball arena is used.

That is true with almost all facilities. However, name a school out there that doesn't want a basketball practice facility on steroids to woo recruits.

The problem with the AAC fans is they assume because they have larger stadiums and good training facilities that other G5 schools with smaller stadiums and arenas don't have good training facilities if not better than what is found in the AAC.

People would be surprised how much MAC schools invest in facilities given their reputation for poor attendance. There are some new stadiums and arenas in the MAC which also surprises.

Ball State Practice Facility. Ohio is going to do the same to its 13,000 seat all chairback arena.

I'm sure MAC schools have some nice digs. I wouldn't know.

In terms of facilities worthy enough to move up to P5, Utah, Louisville, Rutgers and TCU had one thing in common: stadiums that held 40K+ with attendance at 35K+

The rest is fairly insignificant.