Impact Report: Atlantic Coast Conference

UCLA Athletics Is Assuming Control of Pauley Pavilion and Other Campus Venues

On3 — Tracy Pierson

UCLA is in the process of assuming control of Pauley Pavilion, Drake Stadium, and the Wallis Annenberg Soccer Stadium from the university’s recreation department, according to On3’s Tracy Pierson. Doing so will allow the athletic department to retain revenue from its own sporting events and eliminate facility usage fees previously paid by the basketball program. Pierson: “A timeframe for when the transition would be completed was not provided. UCLA athletics obtaining control of its on-campus venues should generate millions in revenue. It also makes it possible for the athletic department to generate income from other events conducted in the venues, like concerts or rallies.”

Michigan Regents Approve $184M in Athletic and Medical Infrastructure Projects

University of Michigan Board of Regents — published Oct 15, before this report’s window

The Michigan Board of Regents approved two major athletic and medical infrastructure projects totaling $184M, including a $29M, 28K-square-foot Men’s Gymnastics Training Center and a $155M, 100K-square-foot Sports Medicine Institute. Designed by Integrated Architecture and funded through Intercollegiate Athletics resources, the new gymnastics venue adjacent to the Bahna Wrestling Center features dedicated practice areas, locker rooms, recovery spaces, and staff offices to replace the team’s current practice space in the Coliseum building, which is slated for demolition ahead of its planned fall 2028 completion. Additionally, the Nathan and Catherine Forbes Sports Medicine Institute in south Ann Arbor will feature 34 exam rooms, an ambulatory surgery center, physical therapy, performance training, and procedural spaces for regenerative therapies, with SmithGroup serving as architect ahead of its fall 2028 opening.

South Carolina Sells Out All 54 Williams-Brice Stadium Reimagination Suites

South Carolina Athletics

South Carolina has sold out all 54 of the Williams-Brice Stadium Reimagination Project suites, including 30 luxury suites, 12 Founders’ Suites and 12 loge suites. Limited inventory remains for the 100 Level Club. Gamecocks AD Jeremiah Donati: “The Williams-Brice Stadium Reimagination Project has remained on schedule and on budget while achieving every goal established to date. This project represents a strategic investment in the future of Gamecock football, elevating Williams-Brice Stadium as a premier venue in college athletics and delivering an enhanced game-day experience for our student-athletes, fans and supporters. We are executing this vision with a clear focus on results, positioning the program and the stadium for sustained success.”

New Mexico Introduces “Jeff,” Its Newest Ticket Sales Representative

New Mexico Football via X

New Mexico introduces “Jeff,” its newest ticket sales representative. Like most new-hires, “Jeff” immediately called the staff together to get loose for the sales day before drawing up some plays on the grease board. Watch until the end for the shocking twist!

Clemson Shares a First Look Inside the $40M Brown Family Pavilion

Clemson Wire — Drew Landon via Yahoo Sports

Clemson shares a first look inside Brown Family Pavilion, the Tigers’ new $40M men’s basketball practice facility. Clemson Wire’s Drew Landon notes the facility “includes about 30,000 square feet of new construction and renovations to more than 51,000 square feet of existing space around Littlejohn Coliseum and Swann Pavilion. The Brown Family Pavilion houses the men's practice gym, team areas, and coaches' offices, while the women's program is receiving upgrades to its practice gym, offices, and recruiting spaces. Clemson also expanded the strength and conditioning, nutrition, and sports medicine areas shared by both programs.”

Georgia Tech’s Brittany Sander Departs for Freeman Mathis & Gary

LinkedIn

➯ Georgia Tech Assoc. AD/Chief of Staff Brittany Sander has left the department and is now the Experiential Marketing Manager at Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP.

UMass and Greenfield Savings Bank Announce a Three-Year Sponsorship

UMass Athletics

UMass has inked a three-year sponsorship deal through 2028 with Greenfield Savings Bank to place the financial institution’s logo near the McGuirk Alumni Stadium field as well as the near the Mullins Center court and ice for men’s and women’s basketball and men’s ice hockey match-ups. The partnership officially kicked-off back on September 3 when the Minutemen football team launched its 2026 campaign. Learfield’s UMass Sports Properties assisted in brokering the deal.

An Estimated 7K Fans Are Expected to Travel to Rome for the Eternal City Tip-Off

The AP — Andrew Dampf

An estimated 7K fans are expected to travel to Rome for the Eternal City Tip-Off between Villanova and Notre Dame on November 1st, according to the AP’s Andrew Dampf, who notes fans and members of all four men's and women's teams are scheduled to attend a private papal audience at the Vatican, while Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Perez will celebrate a private Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. As for whether the Vicar of Jesus Christ will be at the games himself, Dampf writes: “While the arena is only about a half-hour drive from the Vatican, the pope is not expected to attend the games. Popes regularly go to sports stadiums when they are travelling internationally, but in those cases the pope is presiding over a papal event: A Mass, a youth vigil or some other event tied to his mission as Christ’s vicar on Earth. He doesn’t go as a spectator, but rather as the chief celebrant. As a result, the pope’s attendance at a basketball game, even a season opener featuring his alma mater, seems unlikely — especially considering his health condition.”

“A Thick $13.5M”: The Cost of Building a High-Major Basketball Roster in 2026

CBS Sports — Matt Norlander & Isaac Trotter

“A thick $13.5M.” That’s the current cost to construct the typical high-major college basketball roster in 2026, per CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander and Isaac Trotter, who arrived at that number following a six-week research project that relied on more than 100 sources across college sports. “The $13.5M is the average number across all 79 Power Five programs, plus Gonzaga, which has operated as a high-major outfit for well over a decade,” representing “the most accurate information to date on how much college basketball teams are paying in order to keep up with an ever-escalating market.” The trickiest part of the project per the authors: “An understandable motivation for some people to lie about their school's actual number.” More…

➯ The SEC leads the way in 2026-27, boasting five of the 15 biggest spenders in the sport while averaging a Power Five-high $17.3M per roster. Unburdened by the cost of power-league football, the Big East ranks second at an average of 13.6M per roster, followed by the Big Ten [12.7M], Big 12 [12.6M] and ACC [11.9M]. “The Big Ten would be No. 2 if not for having one-third of its league limited to less than $10M in spending in men's basketball. … The Big 12 is barely behind the Big Ten; the difference is negligible. While there are obviously still gaps between the top teams and the bottom ones, this league has the widest middle. Nine of its 16 teams are separated by less than $6M, and some of its most successful programs are spending about $2 or $3M less than a lot of its competitors believe. … The ACC has the widest gaps by far of any high-major. The usual suspects are in the stratosphere, while the conference also has 12 of its 18 teams under the national average of $13.5M.”

➯ Schools in the project’s Tier 1 range, spending an average of $20M-plus on their rosters, include Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Illinois, Louisville, Michigan, North Carolina, St. John's, Tennessee, Texas and Texas Tech. “Last season there were only two teams believed to be operating at $20M-plus: Kentucky and (maybe) Louisville; 2026 seriously escalated college basketball's spending ceiling. … [Florida has] a collective valuation north of $25M, putting [it] alongside the likes of two bluegrass blue bloods, Louisville and Kentucky, and ranking among the richest rosters in college hoops. What's more, the Gators didn't rely on a spate of portal pickups like many others occupying the top end of this tier. According to our research, Louisville has spent more on players in the past three years than any program in college basketball.”

➯ The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman weighs in on the report: “I started doing this project months ago and gave up on it because about half of the coaches are full of shit with what they tell you they are spending.”