(12-18-2018 12:18 AM)puck swami Wrote:  It's going to come down to money. Always does.

If they try to do D-I on the cheap (spending $15 million or less yearly), they'll get killed in the Summit.

If they spend $15-25 million a year, they will be competitive in some sports, but will still get killed in most.

Spending over $25 million a year, and they may be competitive in all sports, but it will take a while, as the Augie brand is unknown outside the Dakotas.

Remember that privates need to spend more because the scholarships will cost more.

That means that the numbers that they write down as the "cost of scholarships" is higher. It doesn't automatically mean that there is an actually higher cash outlay per scholarship student.

Quote: And this yearly budget does not include costs for facilities upgrades. I would imagine that they may need to do some of that to be able to get D-I athletes to choose them.

These are hard money costs, and is a serious issue that could be easily overlooked ... or swept under the rug if an administration wants to make a move and doesn't want to give the opponents too much ammunition. Then after committing to a move, it is "discovered" that upgrades to facilities are required in order to be competitive.

Quote: Finally, I think they are really going to struggle to attract D-I schools to go in there for non-league games, so they are going to need more money to buy opponents.

This is also a hard money cost, and is a substantial issue that is also easily overlooked.