I had made a few selected statements regarding Creighton and our competing against collegiate royalty in the pursuit of the NACDA Director’s Cup. The national symbol of collegiate sports supremacy. I was informed that a small university such as Creighton cannot compete for such grandiose trophies – small universities cannot compete with the numbers of sports needed to be filled and the requisite sums of funding needed to support a full panoply of college athletic venues. The kind folks providing information were absolutely correct.
The following article from The Charleston Daily Mail shows that staggering amounts of money are involved in Bigtime college sports and in the pursuit of the Director’s Cup. Clearly then, excellence in college sports is a two-tiered system – the Haves and Have-much-less’s. Thusly then, the small unviersities and colleges can only hope to financially pursue conference level goals in the pursuit of sports excellence. Our entire athletic budget might fund 1-3 sports at a Major university.
It was a nice dream – to strive to win the NACDA Director’s Cup. But alas, it belongs in the province of the Elite.
April 28, 2008WVU dollar signs still bullishDaily Mail Sports Editor(Partial article…) http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/WVUSports/200804280117
However, WVU athletics is riding high, and people want to be a part of that. That’s how it works in big-time college sports. Want a reason why the timing is good for WVU to be asking for money?The Mountaineers stand sixth in the current 2007-08 Directors’ Cup standings, reflecting overall athletic excellence.
A Fiesta Bowl triumph and NCAA appearances and success by men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, cross country and rifle were primarily responsible.
It’s a good time for the MAC to talk money. New standings are due later this week from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to finish the winter season.
WVU figures to fall in the Directors’ Cup race when points from bowling, men’s and women’s gymnastics and ice hockey are added. The Mountaineers compete only in women’s gymnastics among those, and did make an NCAA regional appearance.
A year ago, West Virginia was 35th in the standings after the winter season finished, but fell to 57th in the final standings. That’s because WVU, with only 16 sports programs, has a lack of spring intercollegiate teams – and baseball, crew, women’s tennis and women’s track and field aren’t strong programs.
If one looks deeper into the Directors’ Cup standings, there’s another reason WVU can sell the quality of its program.
The Mountaineers are getting much more bang for their buck.
The other nine teams in the current Directors’ Cup top 10, in order, are Stanford, Texas, Cal, Penn State, Ohio State, (WVU), Tennessee, Arizona State, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Their averageathletic budget is $75.9 million (2006-07 U.S. Department of Education filings).
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