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(04-14-2020 08:46 AM)Bearcat 1985 Wrote:  

(04-14-2020 08:37 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(04-14-2020 08:19 AM)Bearcat 1985 Wrote:  

(04-14-2020 07:48 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  I'd be more worried about how Universities can survive the types of cuts being discussed at the State level (up to potentially 20% in operating budgets), especially when paired with the potential for there still being remote-only learning in the fall. It'll be exceptionally hard for Universities to justify student fees for athletics to the tune that they've done so recently if athletics are not being played, students are not on campus, or budgets are being reduced they way that they are.

Look at my current employer for instance...a 20% cut of operating expenses for FY 21 would equate to $150,000,000. How can they justify dragging $20,000,000 from their operating budget to support Athletics when they don't serve the core function of the "company" as a whole anymore. Many institutions will be on life support or the plug will be pulled completely after this...it's going to be an absolute bloodbath.

Say hello to The Ohio State University at Cincinnati, The Ohio State University at Oxford, The Ohio State University at Athens.......

I kid!

I think OSU (they maintain a billion dollar operating surplus and can start going into the 50% of applicants they reject if they need to keep the dorms full), UC (second highest endowment, fundraising and research budget in the state system) and Miami (provided they can keep all those kids from the Chicago suburbs paying 35K/year in tuition otherwise all bets are off for them) will be fine. Some belt tightening, but no real pain. Everyone else in the system is in real jeopardy, and I think you might see some radical restructuring that was politically impossible before this such as Akron being folded into KSU.

Dewine seems like he's a friend to higher education. Thank God, Voinovich still isn't in Columbus because he'd shut the whole system down.

Athletic subsidies were a bubbling issue before this, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ohio were to enact a law similar to Virginia's which limits what percent of the athletic budget can come from student fees or the academic side.

James Madison isn't following that law at all, so there are clearly loopholes. Athletics Departments at budget strapped schools have long been like a human appendix to the overall institution. Pardon the pun, but it would appear there has been an infection, and I would assume a lot of appendectomies are going to occur shortly. When you're looking at $70,000,000 cuts, and one department is losing $20,000,000 year and asking for that to be floated to them to continue operating...the lame justification that they are an enrollment feature just won't be there anymore.

But yes, even though you used it anecdotally, I actually do think you'll see some whole institution re-organization from this. I sincerely don't see how Wright State can survive a further 20% cut, and OSU could easily move in and see a boon by locking down the Dayton market.

According to the Cleveland paper, total athletic subsidies at UC and the Ohio MAC schools were in the $170M range in the most recent year for which they had data. I agree that I don't see how that survives when the system is being asked to take a 20% cut. The Plain Dealer's been beating the drum on this for a few years now, and I think you'll definitely start to hear a louder chorus around the state in the next year or two.

Yep...this may be the straw to break that camel's back. In the most drastic of moves, and likely wouldn't happen, but I think the most sustainable choice for the Ohio MAC schools would be to simply drop to FCS. It would do a few things, likely wouldn't cost them anything, would cut expenses like crazy as they wouldn't be in the arms race, would allow them to cut women's sports to balance scholarships as FCS has a scholarship MAX of 63 vs. a scholarship REQUIREMENT of 85 in FBS (some FCS teams are non-scholarship teams), AND it would give all of those teams a better shot at a national championship while likely not affecting attendance at all.

Hell, I've been advocating for some of the schools to look at Grand Valley State up in Michigan. They are a MAC school in every sense of the word, around 24,000 students, similar academic quality, similar standing in the state hierarchy, similar setting (medium sized city), but they are in FAR better budget shape because they aren't funneling $15,000,000-$25,000,000 into their athletics department every year.