The Tide are no doubt committed to winning, and spending the money to provide the absolute best for their athletes (read football players). This place is huge, and expensive, and was designed to give Alabama players the best. Alabama Weight Room
Terry, have you ever seen the Haggar Fitness Center at the Gug? It's 25,000+ sq. ft., and it's extremely impressive. There are weight machines specifically designed for certain position players (OL, DL, etc.) that you won't see at the YMCA. I'm sure other top programs, including Alabama have equal or bigger (AL = 37,000+ sq. ft.) facilities, but I can't imagine any being more complete than ND's. Of course, how the athletes use the equipment is more important than the size of the facility or the type of equipment therein.