Per your earlier post, there are more pro football jobs than NBA roster spots. Also, keep in mind that the average career of an NFL player is shorter than that of NBA - so less turnover. in the NBA for those spots  Finally, football allows for a variety of positions and body types, some of which (linemen) are best developed during college, thus allowing small colleges to populate NFL rosters (Price as a skill player out of Ohio is a rarity)  All these factors contribute to more MAC players in NFL than NBA.

What would the Atlantic 14 be without Xavier, Dayton, Temple, and Saint Louis? Nothing. How strong would the MAC be with EMU and BG out of MAC basketball the last decade? Probably as strong as the Missouri Valley. The only real diffentiator is a few individual schools like Xavier and Creighton with metro markets and larger fanbases reside in those leagues. The directional MAC schools while having flashes of success here and there are not that attractive and are holding the conference back. I agree Ohio deserves a better performing basketball league than what it has in the MAC but the only way I see it getting done if Ohio becomes that at-large resume type of program. Upgrade with basketball practice facilities. Start playing more of a national schedule in basketball. Its not about the league, its all about the program.

Dude, I just said the goal was not to be on the level of the CAA and Horizon.  Your assertion that football is the only sport the national networks consistently acknowledge isn't true.  Furthermore, it doesn't matter if it's acknowledged because it sucks.  That's my whole point here.  The potential for upward mobility is so much greater in any sport not football.

I doubt you'd find many mid-major conferences where the average travel cost is $500/person for a conference road game, or where teams are flying 15 times per year.  Regardless, even assuing you are right for the sake of argument, that doesn't mean that the travel costs differ significantly from the MAC to the Horizon or Colonial, let alone enough to explain the entire budget difference.

Again, you get what you pay for.  If you think the current MAC basketball budgets are sufficient, then you also have to find the current results sufficient.  If you think that the MAC should be better than a 15th-20th ranked hoops conference, then you need to increase spending accordingly.

Budgets reflect revenue. Look at where the MAC is in attendance and donations. Somewhere between 15th and 20th for basketball. What is needed is additional revenue not more spending. Additional revenue would justify higher paid coaching staffs and more continuity in the programs.

Hogwash again.  We aren't asking for a free lunch, we are simply questioning the MAC's priorities when it comes to athletics spending.  If anything, the football-first crowd is the one that wants a free lunch, as the commitment to FBS football has required increases in spending totally out of whack with any revenue or demand generated by the programs.

My two cents:

Ohio is what it is, and I like it that way.  Bowl games against Troy and Marshall, beatdowns by Kansas, and getting trounced by Ohio State.

Occasionally, cool things happen.  Destroying the Hoyas, beating Pitt, playing Ohio State tough, and taking down NC in Chapel Hill.  When these things happen, the feeling we get is untouchable.

Athens is great, and we all love it.  If it was a big, booming metropolis, I would not have went to school here, as the college town feel is what really drew me in.  Unfortunately, this means we will never be able to keep up with the Joneses.  Almost every school getting tossed around that we should 'aspire' to be like resides in a major market.  Large populations and corporate sponsors.  Unless you want Lucky Dog Arena, this is a luxury we will never have.

Would dropping down in football or cutting basketball expenses help the opposite sport?  I would say absolutely yes.  But, I would rather compete for MAC titles in a half empty Peden and enjoy the Convo with 6,000 strong than see a packed Peden at the expense of basketball.

Oh, and PS:  Someone said hockey couldn't be viable in Athens.  Why?  I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Friday night in Athens.  Hockey then up Richland to Court Street.  I think hockey could at least break even.  Students PAY money now to watch a club team.  Why wouldn't they pay to watch a D1 team?

So I can't seem to find basketball expense data back to the mid-90s like I was hoping, but even in just the last few years the differences in spending between the Horizon, Colonial and MAC is pretty stark.  And the difference between MAC football and basketball spending during that period is equally stark.

I pulled conference average basketball spending data for each of the three conferences.  Back in 2006, both the Horizon and the CAA spent about 11% more on basketball on a yearly basis than did the MAC (a gap of roughly $145K per year per school).  Between 2006 and 2009, the Horizon increased its basketball spending by 22%, while the Colonial increased its hoops spending by 25%.  Meanwhile, the MAC only increased its basketball expenditures by 13% over the same period of time.  As a result, what used to be an 11% gap has doubled, with the Horizon now spending 20% more than the MAC, and the Colonial spending 23% more.  In real dollars, the average Horizon school now spends $297,311 more per year on basketball than the average MAC school, while the average Colonial school spends $346,812 more (data all from the U.S. Dept. of Education - http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/).

So it is pretty clear that the Horizon and CAA have invested much more heavily in hoops than the MAC has over the last few years.  Now the question is what effect MAC football has had.  From 2006 to 2009, the MAC has increased its average football spending by 22%, from $4,632,756 per school to $5,635,785, an increase of just over $1 million per school in just 3 years for the mathematically challenged.  Meanwhile, as noted above, the MAC has only increased its basketball budgets by an average of 13% during that same period, resulting in an overall increase of under $174,000 per school, or over $825,000 less than the average increase in MAC football spending over the same period.

Thus, I think it is abundantly clear that the MAC has prioritized football over basketball the last few years, resulting in the investment disparaties above.  As a result, it is no surprise that both the Horizon and Colonial have lapped the MAC in terms of conference-wide basketball ratings. 

Hopefully this now puts to rest the debate over whether the MAC's football spending has hampered MAC basketball.  The answer is certainly yes.  Now we can instead simply focus on whether this is the most prudent strategic decision.

edit to say

completly missread your post...I'm a dolt.

Carry on

I'd like to see how we differ with the A-14 and the Valley.

Thompson says I didn't really hijack this thread, because I'm proving I'm very "unteachable" about all this conference stuff...