Jonathan Smith 2001 Fiesta Bowl

Are you tired of 2^nd tier bowls and are now prepared to take the next step?  Did that Fiesta Bowl so very long ago make you want more?  And you’re not happy that we’ve not been back again?  Well, the price of admission to the BCS is steep, and you really will have to pay to get there on a regular basis.

The US Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education provides financial facts and figures for collegiate athletic programs.  One set of numbers that particularly interest me are the annual athletic program expenditures that each of the schools allocate to football in the most recent fiscal year of reporting.  These total expenditure numbers include the amount that teams spend each year on staff salaries, recruiting expenses, practice and game day materials and supplies, athletic student aid, etc.

For this year’s BCS field, here are the most recent year football expenditures:

For comparison, OSU’s football expenditures are $ 11.9 this past year, ninth place in the Pac-10 conference.

OSU’s football expenditures were:

• $ 4.3 million less than the Pac-10 average.

• $ 5.7 million less than the Pac-10 average without OSU or last-place WSU.

• $ 6.1 million less than our rival, uo.

• $ 9.2 million less than the average for BCS participants this year.

• $ 2.5 million less than the lowest spending BCS entrant, Connecticut.

• $ 19.8 million less than 9-time BCS participant Ohio State.

The table below shows the number of BCS appearances, most recent football program expenditures, and number of programs in each group since the start of the BCS back in 1998.  For programs that have returned to the BCS one more time (2 appearances), the average increase in annual football program expenses was $ 4.5 million than for the one-hit wonders.  At $11.9 million, OSU is spending less than the average for the one-time BCS appearance teams.  To be a regular in the BCS (3 or more appearances), an average of $ 8 million over the one-time teams is typical for football expenditures.

For the BCS regulars, the expenditures range from a frugal $ 16.3 million for Virginia Tech to $ 31.7 million for Ohio State, a program with more appearances than any other program.  The 2-time appearance programs have expenditures that range from $ 22.9 million for Auburn to $ 6.9 million for Boise State.  The one-timers range from $ 22.0 million for Arkansas to $ 8.3 million for Hawaii.  You can get to the BCS on the cheap if you play in a weak conference and ring up big win totals (WAC, Mountain West) or just play well enough to win a weak conference (Big East).  But if you play in a power conference, you’ll need to pay to compete with the big boys because the only way you get there is to win your conference or have a stellar 2^nd place finish.

Here’s the expenditures for our Pac-10 conference competitors:

And in the new Pac-12, here is how the expenditures are distributed:

Even before this starts, OSU will be spending $ 3.8 million less than the average in the Pac-12 North on football.

To achieve the competitive program that we now have, we had to build facilities to compete with our rivals.  We now have nice facilities – the physical backbone of our football program.  But it seems we have lagged in providing the funds to run the day to day operation of our program.  And these numbers must improve if we’re serious about taking the next step, to get back to the BCS on a regular basis.

Go Beavs