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Originally Posted by rizzle
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Even with the head start of Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State ranking 1-2-4 in attendance, the SEC led the nation in 2011, as it has every season since 1998. That's because SEC schools take six positions in the top 11. The revenues generated by that attendance put the SEC at the top of athletic spending, according to a survey by the Sports Business Journal. The median budget of SEC athletic departments in fiscal year 2012 is $90.3 million. The Big Ten is second at $78.8 million. No other conference has a median budget above $62 million.
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So Michigan has a smaller budget due to lower attendance than an SEC school?
http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/sta...xt/mattend.htm
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Michigan Stadium Attendance Records
The University of Michigan footbal team has played 230 consecutive games in front of crowds in excess of 100,000 through the 2010 season. The last time The Wolverines did not have 100,000 in attendance was Oct. 25, 1975 vs. Indiana when a crowd of 95,857 was on hand for the 55-7 Michigan victory.
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Even a year old stat like that is staggering. The Big House is the largest college football stadium, and the third larest in the world, excluding NASCAR and horse racetracks. Don't give me the budget argument because it doesn't hold water. Michigan has soldout the largest stadium for 35 years, ranks 7th of all schools in merchandise sales and 4th overall in revenue/profit (with Georgia being the only SEC ahead of them).
The SEC wins because they are better at, or more willing, to cheat. The SEC signs more recruits than they are allowed to and are guilty of more NCAA violations than any other conference. Yet the NCAA is unwilling to really punish them because they bring in good TV ratings and hence lots of money.
7 of 12 SEC schools now facing sanctions in the past two years:
http://outkickthecoverage.com/south-...-sanctions.php
Merch numbers link:
per this link
http://content.usatoday.com/communit...andise-sales/1)
Overall revenue/profit link:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/29/news...lars/index.htm
I'm not about bashing the SEC per se. Ohio State got a slap on the wrist too. The whole thing just bothers me. It's like Barry Bonds's homerun record. Sure he has the numbers, but everyone knows he cheated to get them.
Sure as a fan you get to enjoy the wins at gameday and the sanctions or vacated wins won't be official for a few years so, who cares?
I guess my beef is with the NCAA. If they want to get rid of this crap for real they'll punish all those who benefit from it. Players taking money/gifts, make them sit out 3 years before being eligible for the NFL draft. Take 20 scholarships for 3 years (60 total) from the school, and ban the coach for 3 years from taking ANY NCAA coaching position.
They'll never do it. They have no spine and they gave away their post season system to another entity (BCS), who crowns a mythical national champ every year.