Most large donations to the athletic department are earmarked or to a specific giving opportunity. Obviously, football gets the majority, but not all athletic department donations are directed to the football program. Tennis Coach Jenny Mainz has done an incredible job in coaching as well as fund raising to build facilities. Our tennis facilities are some of the best in the country as a result of earmarked tennis donations. Coach Pat Murphy has done the same with the softball program and the softball faciities. If you ever have an opportunity to hear Pat speak, you will understand why. No coach on campus has done a better job of building a program than Coach Murphy. He used to call it "selling the vision" and he was the best at it.
Selma, How did you mean using the "Top 20 and not the Top 25" in a 4 team playoff? It may come to 4 sixteen team conferences but breaking away from the NCAA to form any other entity the mind of man can imagine DOES NOT change the court ordered enforcement of Title IX.
For the record, I am a traditionalist and don't favor a playoff beyond what is now scheduled for the BCS. Alabama has a strong fan base that faithfully travels with the Crimson Tide but even the planned 4 team playoff has me concerned. My concern is that playoffs become a made-for- tv production and lose some of the fan game day experience which is expensive enough for fans. Ask yourself this question: How many fans would have been at South Beach drinking $34 poolside margaritas if it had been a semifinal game with the actual NC Game scheduled the following weekend in Pasadena? More than likely most would have made the choice of one game or the other. I could see the BCS NCG becoming like the SuperBowl where sponsors take practically all of the tickets and fans are left at home. Sure the money is enticing but I would hate to see the regular season game day excitement replaced, or diminished, by playoffs.
Off topic, sorry. But the fact athletic departments will always be forced to comply with Title IX, or lose tax paying funding for the universities, is an absolute fact....regardless of how much money is generated through college football.