Unverified Voracity Blames It On The Autotune
This is what genius looks like. Prompted by Rich Rodriguez's tete-a-tete with Jamie Foxx, Orson gets parodic and LSUFreek drops this mindblowing gif:
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While we're making it rain. Michigan checks in #4 in overall athletic department lucre. The top ten:
| Rank | School | Total Revenue | Conference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Texas | $120,288,370 | Big 12 |
| 2nd | Ohio State | $117,953,712 | Big Ten |
| 3rd | Florida | $106,030,895 | Southeastern Conference |
| 4th | Michigan | $99,027,105 | Big Ten |
| 5th | Wisconsin | $93,452,334 | Big Ten |
| 6th | Penn State | $91,570,233 | Big Ten |
| 7th | Auburn | $89,305,326 | Southeastern Conference |
| 8th | Alabama | $88,869,810 | Southeastern Conference |
| 9th | Tennessee | $88,719,798 | Southeastern Conference |
| 10th | Oklahoma State | $88,554,438 | Big 12 |
Texas and Ohio State continue their runaway status as 1-2. Texas's spot at the top of the list is pretty obvious since, IIRC, the Big 12's television revenue is extremely unbalanced and Texas, as the flagship school not located in a tiny state where the only thing to buy is John Deere equipment, is the major beneficiary of the current system.
But I've always been curious where the Ohio State revenue gap comes from. The Big Ten splits all TV and bowl revenue right down the middle, so the only differences can come in stadium gates and sheer sport quantity. (For instance: I'm guessing the Michigan hockey team rakes in most of the difference between Michigan and Penn State by itself.) Ohio State does support a huge number of sports, but I don't think the crew teams or whatever at the tail end of OSU's athletic department bring in a million between them, let alone 18. And Ohio State's stadium is considerably smaller than Michigan Stadium.
OSU's visual cacophony of in-stadium advertising is no doubt part of the gap. The rest of it is probably luxury boxes and primo seating; I'll be interested to see what the numbers look like in two years when Michigan's suite spigot is turned on.
If you're curious as to the per-school average for BCS conferences:
- Big Ten: $76.4 million
- SEC: $71.1 million
- Big 12: $66.5 million
- Pac-10: $58.7 million
- ACC: $54.1 million
- Big East (football schools only): $45.5 million
Someone hide this from Clay Travis*: even when the SEC nuclear bomb contract goes into effect—which adds 60 million-ish per year—the Big Ten teams will still be ahead on total revenue. Not that this will stop the avalanche of OMG SEC FINANCIAL DOMINATION stories.
*(Who has a wikipedia page? WTF?)
Fire this woman immediately. Here's Pat Forde on something called "First Take." As it is on ESPN, it contains no information, but holy hotpants you might want to watch through the Michigan segment, which is right after the ND opener:
I quote this woman now. I quote her:
"They want to get the 'woof, woof' back at the Dawg Pound, back at the Wolverine house, the Big House."
LADY DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A DOG TO YOU?
SERIOUSLY. ARE YOU UNDER THE IMPRESSION THIS IS A DOG?
Hey, guess what sort of values we're talking about. Got it in zero. Good job. Mark Ortmann on the offensive line departures:
"They're leaving for all the wrong reasons," Ortmann said of the Wolverine quitters from the interior line. "They're making false accusations. I got along with Boren, (Grand Haven's Dann) O'Neill and Kurt. But I don't understand where they're coming from.
"The family values at Michigan are there. That's not a question in anyone's mind. So for them to come out and make those accusations is not fair to anyone."
I don't think did O'Neill said anything other than "I'm a better fit at Western," but take that you other guys. Take that.
Etc.: Kirk Ferentz likes the idea of playing 13 games. What about the children, Kirk? Maize 'n' Brew hit up Big Ten Media Days, too. Talkin' with Ortmann and Brown.
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