Money Well Spent
It's pretty common knowledge that the BCS schools are known for winning. You think of schools like Texas, Ohio State and Florida and you think of behemoth stadiums and football glory. Or maybe you think of schools like Kansas, Duke and Kentucky, well known basketball powerhouses that always seem to be in the Final Four.
The key to their success isn't just in tradition and luck. It's not even in TV revenue. No, these schools are all successful for throwing massive amounts of cash into their athletic departments.
Kent State didn't overspend for basketball success.
For little schools in the MAC, that luxury isn't there. Eastern Michigan doesn't have boosters that can throw six or seven figures around. Nor does Ball State have many alumni that could ever dream of throwing that kind of cash at the football program. But, that doesn't mean that they can't be successful. Perhaps that was demonstrated best on Tuesday when Kent State was named the most economically successful school in Division I.
The Golden Flashes were given that honor as the winners of the Excellence in Management Cup, which is handed out annually by the Texas A&M Laboratory for the study of Intercollegiate Athletics.
On the surface, the award might not sound that impressive, but consider this: Kent State won six MAC Tournament titles in 2009-10 and claimed another five regular season awards. The Golden Flashes also won both the Reese and Jacoby Awards. So perhaps KSU isn't throwing money around like Ohio's famed team in Columbus, but the money that Kent State is playing with is being very well spent.
For the MAC, the news gets even better. Joining Kent State at the top of this list was Central Michigan (fourth) and Ohio (12th). To put that in perspective, all three teams finished higher than any school from the Big Ten, SEC, PAC 10 or Big East. As a matter of fact, the only BCS school that cracked the Top 10 was the school that created the formula to determine economical success – Texas A&M (7th).
At the end of the day, the most passionate fans will always want to see their teams win on the field. But, for 12 schools with limited resources, it's nice to see that the MAC is at least spending the money that it has wisely. To me, that's a job well done.
For more information about the Excellence in Management Cup, click here.