I took this from Transic_nyc off the Realignment Board, but I want us to look at it from a different lens:

(12-29-2025 05:14 PM)Transic_nyc Wrote:  https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...ce&ds=herd

1. I don't expect the number for 2025 to be that drastic to 2024's, although there might be a slight decrease due to political happenings in Washington.

2. It's not the end-all, be-all list but the Super 2 and conferences below them will carefully look at them to see how a specific school can fill whatever particular needs they might have at a particular time.

3. Related, there's more ammunition for why schools like Virginia, UNC, Miami and even Georgia Tech would be looked at, whether any of them gets picked up by one of the Super 2 or not. Pitt should be under consideration, but they have a Penn State problem.

Interesting the jump for SUNY Albany, and that Nebraska and Nebraska Medical are no longer being listed separately...

Transic's comments aside, look at this data:

UGA: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U3292001
Steady increase

UK: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U3314001
Wildly inconsistent, except for steady increase in grad students, IMHO.

OU:// https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U3381001
On the rebound.

LSU: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U1725003
Steady climb up!

Auburn: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U0323002
On the way back up!!

Tennessee: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U3430004
Hmmm. Not good.

Mississippi State: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U1958001
Back in the improving column!

U of SC: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U3415006
Steady improvement!!

Arkansas: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U3257001
Hmm, cause for concern here!!

'Bama: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U3248002
Look at R&D. Steady improvement.

Ole Miss: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?...n=U3248002
Stable.

If you've noticed, I deliberately left out the SEC's AAU institutions, because I want to see how much impact the SEC Academic Consortium is having on those institutions not In the AAU. Is it helping improve or not? I think overall it is helping, but more data is probably needed to make a definitive conclusion.

Especially for OdinFrigg:

For bill dazzle, aka uncle dazzy:

I read his post on the main forum and looked at the data. I like the way you presented it here.

His specious claims are that it would get Georgia Tech looked at. Georgia Tech's academics are certainly worthy of addition to research and development-oriented conference, but the additions are being made for market value and ratings for the advertisers of the networks, and not for the benefit of conference membership based upon anything other than the amount of sports revenue the schools can add.

Miami and North Carolina are solid additions for market and viewership reasons, and they happen to be AAU. Virginia may get a look but is hardly guaranteed anything. Duke has internal revenue numbers but lags the network metrics save for basketball which is only about 30% of the equation. Kansas has top 11 internal revenue numbers, but lags in market size and viewership. How this finishes out will depend on how much compromise the presidents can get from the network execs on the mix of schools to add.

If you want to know why I am so interested in this, read the bolded portion of the quote below:

(01-01-2026 10:24 AM)XLance Wrote:  

(12-31-2025 03:31 PM)ken d Wrote:  

(12-29-2025 05:14 PM)Transic_nyc Wrote:  ...

Why should research spending affect a decision to add a school to an athletic conference? Does being affiliated with a medical school or a hospital have any impact on a school's attractiveness to high school football or basketball players? Does it make alumni more likely to make large donations to athletic departments or to NIL collectives?

Institutional power and prestige. Without it there would be no reason to keep Vanderbilt in the SEC or Northwestern in the B1G.
Those schools elevate the perception of every team in their respective conferences.

It also provides spendable income for the University communities.
In North Carolina, for instance, research in the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill) pumps around $4 Billion of outside money into the economy of the area annually. This means that there are educated people (more likely to support college sports) with lots of spendable income that will follow college sports, and support the local teams.

More and more, no successful athletic program will be able to sustain itself without access to $$$.