Keeping up with the Joneses in the SEC means continuous expansion from a facility standpoint, ensuring your program is always one step ahead in the national arms race.

“If you don’t see cranes up, something’s wrong,” Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel said at SEC Media Days.

Bigger is better on every football campus and works as an effective recruiting tool in the SEC where several teams are fighting for the same elite prospects.

With Florida’s $17 million indoor practice facility soon to open, now 13 of the SEC’s 14 programs have somewhere swanky to play when weather doesn’t cooperate. Georgia is the only program without one, but is in the process of building a new $30 million structure on what are now the practice fields adjacent to the Butts-Mehre building on campus.

The relocation of underground utilities has been a chore in the development stages, pushing Georgia’s projected opening date back a few months.

Mizzou will build a new indoor facility down the road, but first Pinkel wants an all-encompassing football complex south of Memorial Stadium. The complex is set to include new locker rooms, coaches’ offices and a weight room for player use.

Editor’s note: Practice facilities summaries were taken from team-specific sports information websites.

ALABAMA

“The Hank Crisp Indoor Facility’s 130-plus yard field makes it the largest collegiate indoor practice facility in the nation under one roof. Hank Crisp Indoor has 97,000 square feet of clear space, measuring 20 percent larger than a typical college football field.”

ARKANSAS

“The 80,000 square-foot Fred W. Smith Football Center includes a spacious locker room, team meeting rooms, training room, equipment room, a student-athlete lounge and study area, coaches’ offices, a recruiting reception area and football displays celebrating the tradition of Razorback Football.”

AUBURN

“Located adjacent to the current football practice fields behind the Auburn Athletic Complex, this 92,000 square-foot, $16 million facility allows Auburn football, baseball, softball, soccer and track teams to practice indoors during inclement weather.”

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FLORIDA

The Gators will have use of their new facility this season, which couldn’t come at a better time according to first-year coach Jim McElwain. Here’s a virtual fly-through tour of the facility in Gainesville.

KENTUCKY

“Nutter Field House, an $8.5 million climate-controlled structure, features an artificial turf football playing field of 108,000 square feet, surrounded by a six-lane, 290-meter track.”

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LSU

“Built in 1991, LSU’s indoor practice facility is a climate-controlled 82,500 square foot complex connected to the Football Operations Center.”

MISSISSIPPI

“Located beside the South End Zone of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the Rebels moved into this spectacular $18 million multi-purpose structure in fall 2004. It was renamed the Olivia and Archie Manning Athletics Performance Center in 2013.”

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MISSISSIPPI STATE

“The Palmeiro Center includes a 68,000-square foot floor area which accommodates a complete baseball infield within the context of a full football playing field. Retractable batting cages, which may be lowered from the ceiling, and football goal posts are also included in the facility.”

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MIZZOU

“Constructed for $12 million in the summer of 1998, the Daniel J. Devine Indoor Practice Facility serves as the site of the Missouri Tiger football program’s practices all throughout the season and in the spring, in addition to serving as a training facility for off-season conditioning workouts.”

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SOUTH CAROLINA

“Located on the west end of Gamecock Park, South Carolina’s indoor practice facility opened in 2015 and features a regulation 100-yard turf football field with restrooms, athletic training rooms and film towers.”

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TENNESSEE

“Completed in 1989 at a cost of $11 million, Neyland-Thompson Sports Center a the 120,000-square-foot, two-level structure named in memory of former Vols head football coach and athletics director General Robert R. Neyland (1926-1962) and Knoxville businessman B. Ray Thompson.”

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TEXAS A&M

“The fully air-conditioned McFerrin Athletic Center — which sits just steps from the Bright Football Complex — houses a full football playing field. Its ceiling is nearly 80 feet at its peak above the FieldTurf playing surface, which allows for all kicking and throwing drills.”

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VANDERBILT

“The Commodores’ multipurpose facility includes a 120-yard-long indoor practice field, surrounded by a 6-lane, 300-meter indoor track.”

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