GoCats...I tend to agree with your conclusion that O-H-I-O is in the MAC for the long run. Simple reason that nobody addressed while shooting bullets at me: We do NOT have the resources to make any move (like $85 million to upgrade football like UC and others that really want to be in the mix have)!
I think a better question would be this: how much would it take for Ohio to move to better conference? Obviously upgrades will need to be made to all athletic facilities, especially Peden. But how much does that cost? I'm guessing it's near $100 million or more.
The athletic facilities at Ohio aren't the biggest barrier for moving up. The Convo has always been adequate for a power conference. The issue was Peden and building a legit FBS atmosphere around the program. First the focus was to get the football and basketball programs competitive nationally. That started with registering the OHIO logo and making improvements to the budgets and then salaries. Within reason the major sports are funded adequately today. The second phase is getting the athletic budget out of the red. That means holding the line on budget spending while increasing donations, sponsorships, ticket sales ect. The student senate a couple of years ago was probing the amount of student fees going to athletics and they agreed on a continuance of the fees with the hope of eventually reducing their reliance on them. The final stage is where athletic department revenue is a surplus after all expenditures. A program where regular game tickets are $75 dollars and the money is there to pay power conference salaries.
The problem isn't the price of tickets. Ohio charges plenty. Other schools overcharge. The problem is the numbers. We need more people buying tickets to drive expansion and the needed revenues that would come with it. We need our own fans and alums to get behind Ohio athletics in a manner commensurate with how they just love being Bobcats and to stop giving their money to the gorilla in columbus. I'm not interested in supporting a program that charges $75/ticket. Not because I can't afford it but on general principle.
I'm not saying the price of the tickets is a problem. Its the level of demand that has to be there to be attractive for a move to a power conference. In my opinion $45 dollar tickets for Parent's weekends is about as far as it can go before its serious over charging. My point is that the program has to become less reliant on student fees before it can even think about joining a power conference. The budget is sitting at 27.3 million of which revenue is 6.9 million with a subsidy of 74.7%. Basketball expenditure is 3.2 million and optimistically with naming rights for the Convo, increased marketing, 10,000 a game for basketball we could pull in another 3.2 million in revenue. Scholarships cost 6.9 million and I have heard a major donor wants to step up and endow scholarships for the athletic department. Assuming this growth happens that would put Ohio at a budget of 37.4 million with a student subsidy of 54.5%. Note these numbers are baselined off of current expenditures but do not reflect future cost adjustments. For comparison Cincinnati is sitting at about 46 million in budget. They are already on that third level where they are bringing in excessive revenue which is why they are a favorite for the Big XII or ACC. Its very hard to imagine Ohio getting to that level of support. With the scholarships and increased marketing revenue I'm talking about it will be enough to make the university community happy. For those who want increased support and success of athletics they'll have what they want. To those who question that athletics is a drain on resources corporate sponsorships will attest to athletics financial sustainability. Then to those who believe reliance on student fees are too high endowing the athletic scholarships and reducing the reliance on student fees will make them happy. If we left the MAC for the Big XII and started paying 3 million for coaching salaries while struggling with .500 seasons it would tick a lot of people off. That is why I think the MAC situation maximized is the way to go. Be the preeminent school of the MAC and rack up the MAC championships instead of selling out for the power conference.