Now that the poll is locked and we have our results, I can say I'm slightly surprised by them but not totally. Most recent data I can find is from the calendar year of 2014. Here are the operating expenses of all of the schools above in men's basketball
[TABLE="class: brtb_item_table"][TBODY][TR][TD] [/TD][TD] Expenses[/TD][TD]Revenue [/TD][TD]Profit/(Loss) [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Colorado[/TD][TD]$5,641,560[/TD][TD]$6,024,905[/TD][TD]$383,345[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Georgia[/TD][TD]$5,933,136[/TD][TD]$9,029,690[/TD][TD]$3,096,554[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]New Mexico[/TD][TD]$3,538,650[/TD][TD]$6,101,069[/TD][TD]$2,562,419 [/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Pittsburgh[/TD][TD]$8,621,103[/TD][TD]$14,926,723[/TD][TD]$6,305,620[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]Xavier[/TD][TD]$5,518,383[/TD][TD]$12,100,195[/TD][TD]$6,581,812[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]
To all those that want CU to make the "next step", how are we going to pay for it? Football is king on campus, always will be. It drives most of the money. CU spent $15 mil on a basketball facility and it was considered an huge expense and was such a big deal that our former coach had to have it written into his contract. They spent $150 mil on a football facility and it was (rightfully) considered "way overdue". Just like football is an arms race, so is basketball. So if you want CU to make the jump to the Xavier level (personally, I think we're in the Pitt level, but on the low end of it), how are we going to do it? Xavier spent almost as much as we did in 2014 on a campus that is 1/6 the size of CU's. What is the AD going to do to help the program make more money so it can make changes? And honestly, this comes back to some of the things that Bohn did that RG got rid of. I understand why he did it as CU was in a budget crunch, but the money that Bohn spent on C-Unit was, as
@jgisland put it, was "a rounding error". It helped the atmosphere at games, it sold more tickets (I know that I personally am more excited to go to games when I know the student section will be packed and fun) and it built a future generation of alumni who may donate the big money so we can spend the next $10-15 mil on improvements for the basketball program.
Tad's been getting a lot of heat lately and in no way am I saying he's perfect (although, as someone who sat through a lot of bad Ricardo Patton coaching, Tad's strengths greatly outnumber his weaknesses), but I honestly don't know outside of the elites who could succeed in this sort of financial environment.
I'm not saying that CU is doomed to failure, but it really appears that the fan base has champagne tastes on PBR budgets.