[A]pplicants with lower-than-average SAT scores prefer schools with athletic success. Those students “valued” athletic success for longer periods than high SAT applicants.
That theoretically translates to loyalty, which translates to donations. That translates into long-term financing of the whole [university football] enterprise — even when it’s bad football.
“Academicians can talk all they want to,” [former Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters says]. “The American public loves sports, period. It is what it is. We have a sports page, not a math classroom page.”
Low-scoring students supporting loser football: The recipe for success at so many American universities! Dennis Dodd sings its praises, and shows how you can bring this winning combination to your school.
March 25th, 2015 at 3:26PM
Commissar Waters would do well to examine the athletics budgets of his conference schools and see how many of them can cover their operating costs with only operating revenue and donations. The passion he imagines may be a good deal less intense in real life.