WVU's formula for success is unique, it seems.

The Charleston Daily Mail Wrote:WVU dollar signs still bullish
By Jack Bogaczyk
Daily Mail Sports Editor
April 28, 2008

It's not exactly a great time to be asking for money. The numbers for a gallon of gas are approaching those of the Major Leagues' earned run average. Those economic stimulus checks arriving soon in the mail will only stimulate many folks to pay bills.

That said, the Mountaineer Athletic Club arrives in Charleston tonight for its annual scholarship dinner for West Virginia University athletics and you know what?

The MAC should have little difficulty getting the dollars it needs to continue to fuel WVU's program.

Several Mountaineer coaches will be there to stoke the deep-pocketed crowd. They'll try to help attendees forget the controversy that embroils WVU.

There's the Rich Rodriguez $4 million question, and former (and brief) MAC chief Larry Aschebrook's messy entanglement with Rodriguez, and a bogus degree for Heather Bresch that will continue to reverberate within an embattled administration that has gone from shooting itself in the foot to firing-squad suggestions.

However, WVU athletics is riding high, and people want to be a part of that. That's how it works in big-time college sports. Want a reason why the timing is good for WVU to be asking for money?

The Mountaineers stand sixth in the current 2007-08 Directors' Cup standings, reflecting overall athletic excellence.

A Fiesta Bowl triumph and NCAA appearances and success by men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, cross country and rifle were primarily responsible.

It's a good time for the MAC to talk money. New standings are due later this week from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to finish the winter season.

WVU figures to fall in the Directors' Cup race when points from bowling, men's and women's gymnastics and ice hockey are added. The Mountaineers compete only in women's gymnastics among those, and did make an NCAA regional appearance.

A year ago, West Virginia was 35th in the standings after the winter season finished, but fell to 57th in the final standings. That's because WVU, with only 16 sports programs, has a lack of spring intercollegiate teams - and baseball, crew, women's tennis and women's track and field aren't strong programs.

If one looks deeper into the Directors' Cup standings, there's another reason WVU can sell the quality of its program.

The Mountaineers are getting much more bang for their buck.

The other nine teams in the current Directors' Cup top 10, in order, are Stanford, Texas, Cal, Penn State, Ohio State, (WVU), Tennessee, Arizona State, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Their averageathletic budget is $75.9 million (2006-07 U.S. Department of Education filings).

West Virginia's athletic budget for the same year was $42.7 million, about $10 million less than the next-lowest in the Directors' Cup top 10 (Arizona State).

Ohio State ($109.2 million) and Tennessee ($95.5 million) sandwich WVU in the standings.

WVU's athletic department also loses about $6 million in potential operations dollars annually because the Mountaineers - unlike most of their major college peers - must reimburse the university proper for its athletic grant-in-aid tuition bill. WVU athletics hasn't gotten tuition waivers for 20 years.

In the past four years (including 2007-08), WVU athletics has spent almost $23 million for scholarships. That number is more costly, too, because of the number of out-of-state athletes WVU must recruit to remain competitive in the Big East Conference.

While it is a matter of a state institution basically moving the money from one pocket to another, the impact is felt when WVU is trying to compete in the salaries and facilities "arms race."

WVU athletics has lobbied the university administration for years about removing the tuition responsibilities from the department, but it hasn't happened. Now probably wouldn't be a good time to ask, considering the goulash President Mike Garrison's office has on its plate.

West Virginia has spent wisely and been fortunate to be able to attract quality coaches (mostly due to state or regional ties) for fewer dollars.

In making the football staff transition from Rodriguez to Bill Stewart, WVU athletics landed a $2 million staff of assistants, but still saved $295,000 overall. Men's basketball Coach Bob Huggins has a very reasonable five-year deal for $4.9 million (including annual retention bonuses).

Compare that to the just over $1 million annually that young Keno Davis just landed from Providence after leaving Drake, or the $2.35 million annually that John Calipari was guaranteed annually to stay at Memphis with a deal announced over the weekend.

WVU also will sell the notion of staying strong economically in what can also be considered a transitional period for athletics.

Two-decade AD Ed Pastilong has announced his retirement for June 2010. The MAC leadership itself has passed through three hands in the last eight months.

In the past five years (2002-07), WVU's athletic fundraising has gone from $4.5 million annually to $13.8 million (and that doesn't include a $14.5 million gift from donor Mike Puskar), and MAC membership has risen from 3,350 to 7,150.

Even a barrel of crude oil hasn't risen like that. Expect the MAC attack to continue, as long as the Mountaineer major programs keep winning.

That’s great, but you are still your state’s “State University”, and get a lot of funding from your state government.

Most of you original Big East members have no idea what we here at UofL have gone through to build our athletic department.

The kittys at UK; they get a lot more because they are the “State University”. We’ve had to build basically everything we have on our own.

Even the latest news that the Kentucky government finally “approved” our $70 million Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium expansion was bull$hit.

We are doing all of this on our own and aren’t spending one dime of tax-payers money, but Kentucky law says we have to wait for the UK blueneck politicians around the state to “approve” us spending our own money on something like this.

Do UofL fans seem arrogant and cocky at times? Perhaps..….but you have no idea what we’ve had to go through to build what we have.

And being a part of this state; we’d be better off to secede and form a new state with our surrounding counties.

CardHouse, WVU is the state-supported university of the poorest state in the nation - a state with a population of 1.2 million (the size of one small metropolitain market - which doesn't describe Louisville), average age - nearly 60 - and what we've accomplished, with less money than any school on that list, is amazing. I'd like to see any school do the same, and that includes Louisville.

I'm not taking away from UofL's accomplishments. But try doing what WVU has done. No matter how you look at it, West Virginia is at a disadvantage. There is nothing there to draw a recruit but the coaches and an opportunity to play BCS-calibur football, basketball in The BEast, etc. West Virginia is on the main road to nowhere. To get there, you have to want to go there. It's not on the direct route to anywhere, except the panhandles. The only activities are outdoor activities. But a kid from the city has no idea of what you are talking about when you mention these things, and few are interested in trying them.

Louisville on the other hand, has plenty to offer. There is more to offer a kid from the city in Louisville than there is in the entire State of West Virginia. So it is much easier for a school, even a private one, to get interest up in Louisville, than it would be in West Virginia for any kind of school.

CardHouse, you just helped illustrate my point. Thanks.

Louisville made their move toward competitive football at the right time, though. Can you imagine starting where Schnellenburger began today?