The New Arenas Opening This Season, and the Ones That Slipped

No power-conference team is opening a new basketball arena in 2026-27. The buildings fans keep hearing about are renovations that slipped, practice facilities, or plans that died. The two new floors that actually tip off this season are a Horizon gym in Indianapolis and a 3,600-seat arena in Malibu.

IU Indy — James T. Morris Arena This is the first new Division I home floor of the season. The Jaguars leave The Jungle, the IU Indy Gymnasium, after 44 seasons. James T. Morris Arena seats 4,500. The first game is November 2 against Miami (Ohio) Middletown.

It is not a power-conference building, and it is not trying to be. Horizon League, on campus, small. The useful fact is the date. November 2 is a real opener in a real new building. Most of the "new arena" list for this season is not.

Pepperdine — The Mountain at Mullin Park

Pepperdine's new building is the expensive one. The Mountain at Mullin Park is a $250 million athletics and student complex in Malibu. The arena holds 3,600, with a center-hung videoboard, premium space, and new locker rooms. Men's basketball opens it December 5 against Florida Gulf Coast. The women open it December 6 against Boise State.

Firestone Fieldhouse had been the home for more than 50 years. The last event there is November 28, a women's volleyball match against Seattle. Pepperdine will play the start of the season in the old building and move in December. West Coast Conference, not a power league. It is still the only new arena this season with a price tag that looks like a Power Four project.

East Texas A&M — Field House, not the new event center

East Texas A&M's $70 million event center was scheduled for fall 2026. The school's own 2026-27 schedule says this is the last season in the Field House on Hunt Regional Healthcare Court. The men open with an exhibition there on October 18 against Tarleton. The new building is next, not now.

Arkansas — Bud Walton Arena

Arkansas is the clearest Power Four miss. Trustees approved architects for a Bud Walton Arena renovation in 2023. The last large-scale estimate was about $150 million. In September, athletic director Hunter Yurachek said he does not foresee a major renovation in the foreseeable future. Revenue sharing and NIL moved it down the list. The Razorbacks are looking at locker rooms and deferred maintenance in a 33-year-old building. They are not opening a new one. Gonzaga on October 24 and Memphis on October 28 are still at Bud Walton.

Alabama — Coleman Coliseum

Alabama's project is a practice facility, not an arena. The board approved a roughly $59 million basketball training and player-development building next to Coleman Coliseum. Greg Byrne has said it does not replace Coleman, which opened in the 1960s. The home floor is the same.

North Carolina — Dean Smith Center

North Carolina's new arena was further along than a sketch. Documents showed a basketball-first building at Carolina North, about 3.5 miles from the Dean Smith Center, with a tagline already picked out: "From Dean to Dream." Public pushback killed it. The Smith Center is still the building. Friday's exhibition against USC is in Greensboro, not in a new arena.

Nevada — Lawlor Events Center, for one more year

Nevada is supposed to move men's basketball out of Lawlor Events Center after 2026-27 into an off-campus arena at the Grand Sierra Resort. Women's basketball stays at Lawlor. That is next year's story. The Wolf Pack are still in the old building this season.

Western Michigan — University Arena, for one more year

Western Michigan is supposed to leave University Arena for the Kalamazoo Event Center downtown after this season. Same situation as Nevada. The new floor is not the one they tip off in.

The season opens with the same Power Four floors as last year. The new buildings are James T. Morris Arena on November 2 and The Mountain at Mullin Park on December 5. Everything else fans have been sold is a renovation that slipped or a practice gym.