Facilities: Quinnipiac University has announced an agreement with Hudson United Bank on a $5 million sponsorship of Quinnipiac's new athletics center, which will be known as the Hudson United Bank Center. "Over the last 30 years, Hudson United Bank has generously supported Quinnipiac in so many ways, but none more meaningful and enduring than this," said Quinnipiac President John L. Lahey. The Hudson United Bank Center will be a 157,000-square-foot facility containing a basketball arena and a hockey arena, joined by a common lobby area for concession stands and ticket sales. The center also will include: offices, locker rooms, club and premium seating, conference and meeting rooms, storage and weight-training facilities. The center, expected to open in January 2007, is the first building in Quinnipiac's $150 million economic development project to develop its 230-acre campus. Future plans call for the construction of a graduate education center and a student residential community.

Conferences: San Diego State University will join the Pacific-10 Conference as an affiliate member in men's soccer beginning with the 2005 season. San Diego State currently is completing its 10th season of competition in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. "We have a tremendous history in men's soccer, and joining the Pacific-10 will help us as we strive to reach the highest level of the sport," said San Diego State Director of Athletics Mike Bohn, who is completing his first year at the school. San Diego State will become the sixth member of the Pacific-10 for men's soccer, joining the University of California, Berkeley; Oregon State University; Stanford University; the University of California, Los Angeles; and the University of Washington.

Miscellaneous: Aiming to make sure that student-athletes will continue to have the resources they need to succeed on and off the field, Pennsylvania State University has launched a five-year, $100 million fund-raising effort for intercollegiate athletics. The campaign will give priority to securing support for five key initiatives: endowed scholarships, coaches' endowments, improved facilities, the Morgan Academic Support Center and sports medicine. "Whatever their sport, our student-athletes inspire pride that connects today's students with generations of Penn State alumni and friends," said university President Graham B. Spanier. "Their commitment to excellence in competition and the classroom, integrity, teamwork and personal growth serve as a model for all students, and represent what is best about Penn State. But in the constantly evolving landscape of intercollegiate athletics, we simply cannot maintain our tradition of success in the classroom and on the playing field without private support. That's why we have made this campaign one of the university's top fund-raising priorities." The fund-raising effort, titled "Success with Honor, A Campaign for the Penn State Way," has completed its first year ... Host Communications and Gray Television Inc. signed a 10-year agreement with the University of Kentucky to retain broadcast rights to Kentucky's football and men's basketball games. The contract calls for Host and Lexington television station WKYT-TV to pay Kentucky $80.5 million. Host has held the rights to Kentucky broadcasts for all but six years since 1974. "If we didn't have the fan base that we have, if we didn't have the appetite for the Big Blue programs that we have, we wouldn't have been in a negotiating position to get one of the most lucrative deals in (intercollegiate athletics) history," said Kentucky President Lee Todd. The new multimedia rights agreement also includes the broadcast rights for women's basketball and baseball, as well as multimedia opportunities involving football game programs, corporate sponsorships, the university's athletics Web site and signage at stadiums and arenas -- except for Rupp Arena, which is managed by another company, Lexington Center Corp. The Kentucky athletics department will donate $1.36 million from the contract to help fund the university's Singletary Scholarship fund. The athletics department already contributes $1 million a year to the university's general scholarship fund.

-- Compiled by Gary T. Brown