Major college football programs spare no expense when it comes to facility upgrades and enhancements, but the arms race’s positive effects on recruiting slowed down in recent years. With more elite-level prospects preferring NIL conversations over where they spend most of their training sessions, athletic departments are forced to re-evaluate priorities in a new era.
That doesn’t mean significant enhancement to football-only facilities have stopped, however. Many of the nation’s top programs in the College Football Playoff race have locker rooms, training areas and indoor practice fields that rival their NFL brethren, many at a cost of $100 million-plus.
Some of the newest facilities we’re excited to see that have begun construction or will soon get underway include sizable renovations or new structures at Miami, Florida State, TCU, Vanderbilt, SMU, Kansas and UCF, among others. All of those programs have a shot at cracking this ranking next time around.
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Here are the nation’s nicest football facilities approaching the 2024 season:
30. Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State started on Phase I of it $700 million renovation of Beaver Stadium in January with an estimated completion of 2027. This is the first time in several years the Nittany Lions have cracked out facilities rankings, with the expansion of five additional programs added to our usual top 25. Penn State’s locker room and football facility refresh opened ahead of the 2016 season inside the Lasch Building. And there’s another $48.3 million facelift coming soon.
29. USC Trojans
There are plenty of construction zones around USC athletics as we speak, and with the Trojans’ move to the Big Ten, football is getting much of the shine. The John McKay Center opened in 2012 at a cost of $70 million, but the new performance center will be three floors with new player lounges, a locker room, position group meeting areas and other spaces for player development. There’s no timetable just yet on estimated completion, but when construction is finished, USC should be inside the top 10 nationally in facilities.
28. Utah Utes
The Utes opened their upgraded football-only locker room prior to the 2022 season and embraced the color black, offering up a sleek appearance. This program’s more than ready to enter the Big 12 this fall with more improvements expected in due time.
27. Missouri Tigers
Thanks to the recent completion of a $33 million indoor practice facility, the Tigers are no longer the SEC’s only team without one. Memorial Stadium is in the process of getting a facelift too, with a $250 million renovation expected to be completed by the start of the 2026 season.
26. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Wait-and-see mode for the new digs in Lubbock, but judging from post-construction videos in anticipation of the full reveal later this summer, Texas Tech’s football stadium with new locker rooms, a “Dallas Cowboys-like entrance” on gamedays and other amenities should look terrific. It’s part of a $250 million renovation. Incredible.
25. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Let’s take a look at the new digs ?
Presented by Berkshire-Hathaway ? pic.twitter.com/9NOqaCxmWu
One of the hidden gems nationally, the new $38 million football digs in Winston-Salem opened in 2023 highlighted by various nutrition stations, larger-than-most player lockers, hyperbaric chambers and new meeting rooms and loungers. There aren’t many programs in the ACC with a facility as nice as the one Wake Forest possesses
24. Ole Miss Rebels
It took nearly two years to complete The Manning Center’s transformation, but the Rebels are in love with their upgrades under coach Lane Kiffin. The project began in January 2022 and has now expanded the current space from 181,500 square feet to 221,000 with the addition of a second floor, which opened ahead of the 2023 season. Like most new or recently upgraded facilities, The Manning Center includes an “NIL meeting room” as well. The Rebels just signed the top transfer class in the country, so obviously, this was a necessity during the planning stages.
A look at Ole Miss’ upgraded Manning Center ?
(via @OleMissFB)pic.twitter.com/sDnBH1mOCX
We’ve shown you bits and pieces. Now, we want to show you the full thing.
Take a walk through Kenan Football Center to see the upgrades that were completed earlier this spring.#CarolinaFootball ?? #BeTheOne pic.twitter.com/HtaXnDq6Rl
23. North Carolina Tar Heels
Designed to modernize Kenan Stadium and North Carolina in the Mack Brown era, the Tar Heels have pumped millions of dollars into becoming a championship contender in the ACC over the past several years with facility enhancements including an indoor practice facility and a new locker room — among other additions. Prior to the 2020 season, the Tar Heels revealed updated digs and the players loved them.
22. Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois is hanging out inside the top 25 with one of the Big Ten’s best football facility following a jaw-dropping update prior to the 2020 season. The Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center opened August 2019 and the 107,650-square foot, $79.2 million facility includes expanded strength and conditioning spaces, coaches’ offices, position meeting rooms, player development areas and locker rooms.
21. Kentucky Wildcats
See what funneling more money into football brings to the Bluegrass? Kentucky might be considered a basketball school, but the Wildcats’ $45 million upgrade to its football training facility in 2016 totaled 100,000 square feet and proved the administration believes in Mark Stoops and his steps toward the future. It paid off in 2018 as the Wildcats won nine games and earned a New Year’s Day bowl berth. Every player’s locker is ventilated with a cell phone charger, lock box and cup holders. For a cool price tag of $120 million, renovated Kroger Field saw its first fans in 2017 and now, gives the Wildcats one of the best atmospheres in the SEC.
20. Oklahoma State Cowboys
The late Boone Pickens donated upwards of $650 million to Oklahoma State over the years, per reports, and roughly half of that total is earmarked for athletics. So it’s not a surprise that the stadium that bears his name and Oklahoma State’s football digs rank among the nation’s best. When the Cowboys host recruits, they can offer more unique uniform combinations than most Power Five programs, too.
Prioritizing the student-athlete experience.
Unveiling the approved plans for a $30 million upgrade and expansion of the current 145,000-square-foot Anderson Training Center — the home of Tennessee Football.
19. Tennessee Volunteers
The Anderson Training Center in Knoxville is an incredibly nice facility that spans 145,000 square feet, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg for what’s coming at Tennessee. Per GoVols247, new locker rooms are just a small portion of the $30 million renovation coming to an already impressive space. Just check out the renderings for what’s next. Neyland will soon be one of college football’s most advanced cathedrals.
18. Michigan Wolverines
Hail to the Jumpman. Michigan’s $168-million, 280,000-square-foot South campus Performance Center is nothing short of spectacular and was 100% privately-funded. Features for several different varsity sports include three therapeutic pools, two treadmills in water “booths” and anti-gravity treadmills for rehab, conditioning and training. Michigan’s $21 million weight room is a sprawling 32,000 square feet of awesomeness and includes a caged basketball court.
17. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame’s simplistic look had quite a dazzling facelift prior to the 2017 season with a new-look locker room for players. The Irish stopped short of bucking tradition however and still walk down the steps to touch the iconic “Play Like A Champion Today” message before heading out to the field. Notre Dame’s new 111,400-square-foot Irish Indoor Athletics Center, which will serve as an indoor practice facility for the football and men’s and women’s soccer programs, opened in July 2019.
16 Maryland Terrapins
Fascinating quote from Maryland head coach @CoachLocks about their new football facility in a recent @TheAthletic article:
“Unfortunately, we moved in at a time when facilities have been de-emphasized in a recruit’s mind,” Locksley said. “Because they’d get dressed in the trash… pic.twitter.com/I9FNxDSw7u
Thanks to the Jones-Hill House, which officially opened summer 2021, Maryland has one of the nicest pads in the Big Ten. At nearly $150 million, Maryland’s football-only facility sits at the site of former Maryland basketball arena Cole Field House and houses a football performance center, football operations — including coaching offices, team meeting spaces, locker room, and dining facility — and indoor and outdoor football practice fields. The problem? Recruits don’t care for amenities all that much, per Mike Locksley.
This is HOME. #OUDNA
Full tour ?????? https://t.co/YaMkfqq0Tk pic.twitter.com/vZFhtbRtUl
15. Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma has approval for a new $175 million football operations facility, which will bring the Sooners to the forefront within the SEC in the coming years. For now, Oklahoma’s updated Barry Switzer Center in recent years is one of the nation’s most futuristic pads with an ambience that rivals college football’s nicest digs. There’s the Red Room — meeting room with “Boomer” and “Sooner” decorating the walls, a Heisman hallway and snack bar with unlimited options. The Sooners’ recovery pool even has mood lighting. Oklahoma also introduced an upgraded video board in recent years and at 2,356 square feet (38 feet high by 62 feet wide), the north board is more than three times larger than its previous look.
14. Arkansas Razorbacks
The Razorbacks’ locker room is one of college football’s biggest in size and borrowed ideas from the Dallas Cowboys, whose owner is Arkansas alumnus Jerry Jones. Like most SEC programs, Arkansas has included a barber shop within its building. Arkansas wanted enough room for coach Sam Pittman to reach the entire team when speaking at its center. Another quirky stat about Arkansas’ $160 million facility? The Razorbacks’ weight room is the SEC’s longest.
13. Northwestern Wildcats
NEWS: Northwestern football will play the majority of its home games at its practice facility on the lake for the next two years.
Similar to Hawaii, there will be temporary structures built around the field.
Capacity and final configuration still TBD. New stadium in 2026. pic.twitter.com/ihgu6g8AM7
Northwestern made a monumental leap into our facilities rankings in 2021 and continues to hang around the top 15 thanks to a practice facility that is, undoubtedly, college football’s most majestic. Standing outside of Northwestern’s 450,000-square football facility on the shores of Lake Michigan, you’d think this was college football’s Mecca — not a program that’s itching to break into the realm of being a consistent threat. There was almost instantaneous criticism over Northwestern’s quarter-billion dollar project that serves only a tiny percentage of Northwestern’s student body, but the noise has quieted since.
12. Florida Gators
The University of Florida has officially opened its new $85 million Heavener Football Training Center ??pic.twitter.com/Z1zQaE4bIv
There’s a $400 million renovation coming very soon to iconic Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, but the Gators did get a facelift ahead of the 2022 season with a 140,000-square foot, $85 million facility with everything everyone else has — barber shop, resort-style pool, updated weight room, a recording studios and other perks. Planners visited various programs for ideas and incorporated what they felt was best for Florida, per reports. The best feature might be the Gators’ new locker room, which is modeled after several recent digs at elite programs. Each player’s locker cost roughly $15,000 per unit.
Texas Football has unveiled plans for its new $70 million practice facility.
The University will begin construction by the end of 2023 and be done by 2025 — shortly after the Longhorns join the SEC. pic.twitter.com/tnRtyHLdss
The Longhorns’ jump back into the top 10 is coming. During his time as athletic director, Chris Del Conte has overseen the largest college athletics facilities renovation/expansion — $750 million — in college football history. Texas is ready for its entry into the SEC in 2024. In addition to recent upgrades at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium — along with freakishly-nice player lockers that were added in 2018, the Longhorns are committing $70 million toward an indoor practice facility and upgraded locker rooms, coaching offices and lounges that will be ready in 2025.
The best football facility in the nation? Yup!
Enjoy this behind-the-scenes tour of the incredible Cyndi & Ken Long Football Operations Center! pic.twitter.com/BxSufMczNA
The Gamecocks have one of college football’s nicest football buildings — the 110,000-square foot, $50 million Cyndi and Kenneth Long Family Football Operations Center — and this monstrosity in the SEC had ranked inside our top five at one point. Several interactive screens throughout the lobby of the ops center document the history of the program and there’s a shrine featuring George Rogers’ Heisman Trophy. The 20,000-square foot, two-story weight room includes custom weight racks and a variety of strength training equipment. There’s a recording studio, too. The players lounge located within the locker room includes TVs and video game areas, a 15-seat movie theater with reclining seats and surround sound, a video arcade room and a sound studio.
Auburn has unveiled its new $92M football facility — the most expensive facility project in school history ?
▪️ Practice facility
▪️ Weight room
▪️ Hydrotherapy
▪️ Recruit lounges
▪️ Multi-purpose kitchen, fuel bar
▪️ Recording studios, flight simulator
pic.twitter.com/8S6nxtMBud
Within Auburn’s $92 million football facility upgrade that was completed in 2023, there’s a spot inside the locker room with hanging felt that mimics the rolling of Toomer’s Corner, a campus tradition. It’s truly one of the most unique ideas with a personal touch across college football in recent years. Construction begins this summer on a new video board in the north end zone at Jordan-Hare Stadium, which replaces the current monstrosity that’s ben in place Ince 1987.
First Day In. First Look In.#GBR x #WhatsNExt! x #GoBig pic.twitter.com/nMN025SVNn
Opening just in time for Matt Rhule’s first season last fall, Nebraska’s massive 315,000-square foot football facility has pushed the Huskers into our top 10 for the first time on aesthetics alone. Coming with a hefty price tag, this is only the start of big-time renovations in Lincoln after Nebraska borrowed from ideas over the last decade and change from other major programs and put its stamp on things. There are oversized LED logos everywhere, sleep pods, various hydrotherapy options and incredibly nice player lockers among other amenities.
New digs at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center are ?? pic.twitter.com/18Scr2lLXf
The Woody Hayes Athletic Center, which houses the Buckeyes’ championship wall in the lobby, features state-of-the-art locker rooms and a strength training area. Its $7.8 million upgrade — the third extensive renovation since it opened in 1987 — was completed in recent years. There’s an improved 42,000-square-foot players lounge, a kitchen and nutrition area, a barber shop, a basketball court, a golf simulator, an arcade, a cryotherapy chamber, sleep pods and an illuminated waterfall in a locker room filled with lots of steel and lots of scarlet. Ohio State opened its renovated dining facility inside the WHAC in 2019, highlighted by pool tables, Pop-A-Shot basketball games and film rooms where position groups break down footage from games or practices.
One of the greatest gave back in a big way
?????? @Mathieu_Era pic.twitter.com/ayqKuYB4ZQ
LSU’s first season in 2019 inside its new year-long makeover of its football ops building paid off in a huge way as the Tigers posted their most impressive campaign in program history with an unbeaten run to a national championship. Featuring state-of-the-art upgrades, the Tigers now have a nutrition center for student athletes and a futuristic locker room with customizable player pods at the cool cost of $28 million. Part of that came from a donation via former LSU All-American Tyrann Mathieu. According to Business Insider, LSU’s building was designed by HNTB Architecture. HNTB also designed multimillion-dollar athletic centers for other programs in this list, including the University of Kentucky and the University of Illinois — two other programs inside our top 25 for 2024.
Clemson’s new football facility is out of control.
Catch Dabo and the Tigers as they host Auburn tonight at 7 ET on ESPN and the ESPN App. pic.twitter.com/OrfHkRVLBu
Are recruits still impressed by the amenities Clemson (and many other programs nationally) have housed inside their facilities? It’s a question those who plan these things are trying to solve. Clemson debuted in our college football facilities rankings several years ago at No. 1 after unveiling, at the time, the nation’s wildest infrastructure. The national exposure Clemson’s facility has received since the completion of a $55 million facelift with the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex opening in 2017 has been tremendous and the Tigers have since opened a 12,000 square-foot facility built adjacent to the indoor practice facility which aids in NIL efforts.
There’s a clever ode to Memorial Stadium’s “Hill” and “Rock” in the lobby and a metal slide near the back of the building if you need a quick ride downstairs, a few feet from the program’s three national championship trophies. The Tigers also have a basketball court, miniature golf course, a whiffle ball field, bowling lanes, arcade games and various other activities for players between classes and practice. Clemson’s weight room is one of the ACC’s best.
There’s a planned “redevelopment” of sorts for the Bright Football Complex, which has long been one of college football’s most lavish facilities since it opened in the south end zone of Kyle Field in 2014. At the time, it was a state-of-the-art trendsetter of sorts that many other programs followed at a price tag of $485 million. It was spectacular because it was new and coincided with Texas A&M’s entry into the SEC. The LED recessed lighting throughout is a nice touch. Given the money in College Station, we’re expecting the expanded locker room and updated options elsewhere will be terrific.
Georgia’s $80 million facility upgrade was completed in 2022, which included 136,300 square feet of new space including a locker room, a player’s lounge, a plunge pool, a nutrition bar, a barbershop, a sensory deprivation tank and a weight room with a double-sided video board. The weight room is one of college football’s largest, by the way. According to a press release by HOK, which helped design the facility per Dawgs247, the design creates three floors of high-performance training experiences for student-athletes and coaches. The modern, amenity-filled space will also support Georgia’s efforts to continue to recruit and retain top talent.
Per Dawgs247, the new weight room facility provided a 193 percent increase in floor space, from 11,000 square feet to 24,000 square feet, a 44′ 6″ ceiling height, and increases the number of lifting platforms from 16 to 32 custom-built racks. The expansion gives Georgia one of the largest weight room facility in the country, although exactly where it stands is up for debate.Coming off a pair of national championships under Kirby Smart over the past two seasons, Georgia now has the facilities to back up its success on the field.
Alabama’s Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility received a makeover prior to the 2020 season featuring a ritzy locker room area a new player entrance tunnel, lockers, a wall of program greats, digital walls and more. Per Bama247, Alabama also opened its new Sports Science Center, which features advanced treatment services and technology with spaces dedicated to cryotherapy, chiropractic, stretch, massage, relaxation, recovery and mental health services. One day after Oregon released photos and details of its multi-million dollar overhaul in 2013, Alabama did the same and the Crimson Tide’s contractors did not disappoint with continuous enhancements since. Alabama’s hydrotherapy room features four waterfalls and its entryway is one of the facility’s defining features.
Via Bama247, the Crimson Tide’s enhancements ahead of the 2021 season included the following:
The Ducks were ahead of their time. And knowing Phil Knight’s influence on the program and its infrastructure, change is coming. There are plans for a new indoor facility in the coming years along with two additional practice fields, along with the expansion of their current facility. Oregon’s facility flipped the script in architectural circles a decade ago and still carry weight with recruits today. Oregon’s facilities are routinely mentioned by prospective student-athletes as top-level.
Knight ensured amenities were top-level in his front-porch to the university’s athletics department. When completed in 2013, Oregon’s self-cleansing lockers were a new invention, one of Nike’s finest innovations and many programs have followed suit. There’s marble showers and Ferrari leather chairs that make this locker room quite cozy. Again, those are everywhere now. Oregon was one of the initial programs to incorporate a barber shop into its player lounge. There’s a 40-yard digital-sensor electronic track on the mezzanine level, one of the few in the world, at least when 247Sports toured this facility a few years ago for this story.
The University of Oregon released some renderings for a new 170,000 square-foot football practice facility scheduled to be completed in 2024 ????
Looks like it will be built over the current outdoor practice fields west of Autzen.
??: @uoregon pic.twitter.com/2DDBJYKCNd
And as you can tell from the spaceship-designed indoor facility that’s coming, Oregon is not slowing down. The Ducks revealed plans for a 130,000-square foot indoor practice facility a couple years ago that will also feature space for an updated players’ lounge — which sounds incredible. Third -year coach Dan Lanning has a lot to look forward to in Eugene from a recruiting standpoint since he’ll be able to flex the best facility in college football whenever he feels the need.
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