#10: Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena—originally designed by legendary Nike shoe designer Tinker Hatfield—helped pioneer the idea of basketball courts as branding statements, and its recent redesign continues that legacy with brighter greens, improved TV visibility, and renewed athlete approval, according to Front Office Sports’ Ellyn Briggs, who uses the Ducks’ updated floor as a lens into the small but influential sports-flooring industry, where firms like Connor Sports and Robbins Sports Surfaces dominate and where design now blends art, biomechanics, and marketing strategy. Schools such as Arizona and FIU are similarly embracing bold, locally inspired court concepts that double as recruiting tools and social-media fuel, while advances in subfloor science and NIL-driven branding have pulled creative, medical, and revenue teams deeper into the process. Briggs notes of the courts’ functionality that the “backbone of nearly every basketball court—regardless of its final paint job—is maple. Robbins Sports Surfaces installs about 6M square feet of it each year. Some schools request alternative woods, usually for aesthetic reasons—beech being popular—but maple remains the overwhelming choice.” Connor Sports Director of Marketing Zach Riberdy: “Maple’s specific characteristics provide the best durability and integrity over the lifespan of the floor. If you install it correctly, it’ll last 30 years on the low end, and even up to 60 or 70 years if it’s well cared for.” Briggs adds: “Design discussions generally begin once a school has selected a flooring system, which sources tell FOS is the biggest pain point in the entire process. What was once a back-and-forth between athletic directors and facilities managers now includes voices from university marketing, brand, and creative departments.” Lots more. (link)

#9: Toledo debuted the Venture Courtside Club at Savage Arena, a space that just a few months ago was storage. Check it out. (link)

#8: President Donald Trump wants “very powerful caps” to limit college athlete salaries so that universities won’t “go out of business.” In an interview on The Pat McAfee Show, Trump also explained that he fears “lesser” sports also are being discontinued because of revenue sharing. “It is a very serious problem because even football, when they give quarterbacks $12M, $13M, $14M — I read a couple of them — and all of a sudden you’re going to see it’s going to be out of control, and even rich colleges are going to go bust. … They had the old way. They gave scholarships, and they did lots of good things. But there could be some form of payments, but…look, the NFL, and all of you know, all teams, they have caps. You don’t really have that in college sports.” Trump added: “When the guard comes along that weighs 350 pounds and he’s phenomenal, and they say, ‘That’s going to make the difference between having a great team and a lousy team’, and they give him $10M — that’s going to start happening pretty soon — all of a sudden you’re going to have NFL-type payrolls.” Also from Trump: “I don’t want to use any particular sport, because it’s, you know, degrading. But they are really terminating a lot of sports…you would call them lesser sports, but big sports, good sports, and sports where they have tremendous interest, they’re getting rid of them.” (link)

#7: Outkick’s Trey Wallace was the first to report Baylor AD & College Football Playoff Chair Mack Rhoades has been the subject of an investigation into “an alleged verbal and physical altercation with a football player and assistant coach.” Wallace continues: “On September 20th … tight end Michael Trigg was preparing to take the field for the opening series against [Arizona State]. As part of the uniform that day, Trigg was wearing a long-sleeved yellow shirt that was being used to protect a brace he was wearing on his shoulder. … Rhoades allegedly went up to Trigg …, and while putting his hands on the player asked him ‘What the fuck are you wearing that yellow shirt for?' … multiple assistants were around when this incident occurred. [...] Immediately following the game … is when the situation took another turn, with an assistant coach being involved. Multiple witnesses tell OutKick that while Trigg went to be with his family, an assistant coach was visiting with his family, when AD Mack Rhoades came up from behind and grabbed the assistant's arm and, subsequently, his shoulder and neck area. According to sources, Rhoades then allegedly proceeded to verbally accost the assistant coach, which was witnessed by multiple Baylor staff members from the athletic department, along with family members.” More. (link)

#6: Army Football officially unveils its uniform for this year’s Army-Navy game, commemorating the Army’s 250th anniversary. Check them out. (link, link)

#5: The NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship field is set with No. 1 seeds Notre Dame, Stanford, Virginia and Vanderbilt. Full bracket. (link)

#4: USC is leaning into the attention generated by last weekend’s fake punt conversion. Watch what happens when two players with #80 jerseys walk into a coffee shop. (link)

#3: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Mac Engel reports that “one person familiar with the situation” at Baylor suggests Bears AD Mack Rhoades “will not be back, and that this will be a ‘housecleaning’ for the Baylor athletic department. Head football coach Dave Aranda’s job security remains a point of concern, and speculation, within the Baylor community.” Engel also points out that the timing of the situation is suboptimal. “If Baylor is ready to move on from Aranda, replacing both the AD and head football coach at the same time is challenging. Normal procedure is the school wants its AD to lead a vetting process of coaching candidates. With many jobs already open for 2026, top coaching candidates are already being contacted to line up interviews. [...] If the Rhoades situation is contained, and only a little embarrassing, the cleanup is minor. A four-week investigation period is not good. Four weeks could feel like four months.” (link)

#2: Yahoo's Ross Dellenger reports the Big Ten is working on a plan to move forward with the $2.4B private capital deal with UC Investments, with or without Michigan and USC. Dellenger: “If they don’t agree to the deal, the schools may lose the additional capital as part of the landmark proposal and risk their future within the conference beyond 2036, the current end of the existing grant-of-rights agreement. League officials are socializing a specific date — Nov. 21 — for a vote on the capital investment proposal. Administrators and board members at both Michigan and USC were informed earlier this week that, if a 16-school agreement is reached, the two programs would be granted a grace period — three to six months — to agree to join the deal if they wish to reap the full financial benefits. That period is only a proposal for now.” The Big Ten, via a statement, tells Dellenger that “no such vote is scheduled.” Dellenger notes the proposed deal has received pushback from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, who will hold a call Monday to discuss the matter with board members from five B1G members, and USC, who would receive an uneven revenue distribution and have expressed concern over the governance of Big Ten Enterprises. More including payouts per member. (link)

#1: Washington State has parted ways with AD Anne McCoy. WSU President Elizabeth Cantwell in a statement: “Anne has provided steady leadership through one of the most complex and pivotal periods in the history of Cougar Athletics. She built a strong foundation for the program’s future grounded in integrity, academic success, and care for our student-athletes. We are deeply grateful for Anne’s decades of service and her unwavering commitment to Washington State University.” The Seattle Times' Percy Allen was among the first to report the news. (link, link)

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