Top 10 Teams of the Last Decade

The top 10 teams of the last decade according to @BillBender92's formula. pic.twitter.com/yvgaO5X23T

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) May 30, 2019

FSU boosters liquidating assets to make ends meet...

Times gonna be tough for FSU as the revenue gap grows.

https://theosceola.com/notes-fsu-sets-2019-20-budget-acc-distribution-to-increase/

Months of long hours repairing a broken 2018-19 athletics budget is now complete.

Florida State athletics director David Coburn and various administrators found solutions to the fiscal year’s budget through cost-cutting and is now balanced thanks to a $6.15 million additional transfer from Seminole Boosters, Inc. The Booster transfer will be funded by the liquidation of real estate held by the Boosters for such a need.

“It’s the product of a lot of hard work, a lot of cutting, a lot of effort from the part of a lot of people,” Coburn said. “We got there.”

Coburn and the FSU athletics board met on Wednesday afternoon and approved a proposed 2019-20 budget of $108.07 million – an increase from $106.95 million in 2018-19.

Among the highlights detailed by finance committee chair Joe Icerman and Coburn:

– The projected ACC distribution for 2019-20 is $32,076,073, an increase of $2.37 million from 2018-19. The additional revenue factors in money expected from the new ACC Network. Then-FSU athletic director Stan Wilcox had said in 2017 that revenue would jump by $8 million – $10 million annually but Coburn said that number is not accurate.

– Athletic operating revenues are projected to fall from $84 million to just under $75 million. The major difference is football tickets, which are projected to be $8.45 million lower in 2019 ($14,995,000 vs. $23,445,000).

– FSU has sold 24,000 season tickets and the budget is built on a foundation of 25,000 season tickets sold. But FSU officials are optimistic that its flex-ticket packs, previously detailed by Jerry Kutz, will entice fans to Doak Campbell Stadium in 2019.

Sales for FSU’s opener against Boise State in Jacksonville have already exceeded what was budgeted. The Aug. 31 kickoff was recently set for 7 p.m., which should help fans who want to enjoy the beach, golf or go fishing before going to watch the game.

“We have a very conservative number budgeted in there for ticket revenue,” Coburn said. “If we can make our nut there and these flex packages sell, we win a few games and start getting some walk-up business, all of that will help.”

– FSU will receive $4 million to buy gear from Nike, up from a $2.8 million allowance in 2018-19.

– FSU will host a Top Golf event this summer, although a date has not been released. Coburn said school officials are working with a group to promote concerts at Doak Campbell Stadium and are “actively looking” at options.

– Ross Cobb has been hired from the University of Arizona to be FSU’s new Chief Financial Officer. Longtime FSU athletics administrators Bernie Waxman (Associate AD for Facilities and Event Management) and Dr. Greg Beaumont (Senior Associate AD for Student-Athlete Academic Services) are retiring this summer.

UNC, ACC leadership, and football expenses

So here is the list of football expenses for the ACC:


FSU $57,732,569
Clemson $46,302,285
Miami $37,268,190
VT $27,864,229
Pitt $27,141,760
UL $26,858,473
Duke $26,200,992
GT $25,096,298
SU $24,994,763
BC $23,477,213
UVA $22,552,489
NCSU $21,321,620
UNC $21,068,434
WFU $19,360,660


Note that the school that runs the ACC, UNC, is 2nd to last in football expenses.  Also note, UNC has the 2nd or 3rd largest athletic endowment in the nation.

Given that 80-90% of revenue come from football.....this illustrates one of the massive issues facing the ACC as it is dead last in conference revenue and trailing leaders but $20 Million plus per team per year.

The ACC just doesn't seem to want to learn.  Or worse, it doesn't care.  This tied with the revenue gap, does not bode well for the future of the ACC.

FSU World Affairs Program moves up in global ranking

Check out this great @floridastate News story on the @fsuwap's top-ranking achievement following one of its most successful years to date. https://t.co/IYkgp4a8wQ

— FSU Social Sciences and Public Policy (@FSUCOSS) May 29, 2019

https://news.fsu.edu/news/university-news/2019/05/28/fsu-world-affairs-program-moves-up-in-global-ranking/?fbclid=IwAR27LMkyY1WGD_YCKOmf_o4PMJJtGNpwzXFD1nATLADC_09oRc2sHlFU4U4

The Florida State University World Affairs Program within the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy has lept four spots in the rankings of a globally respected organization for their success in Model UN competitions.

The program capped one of its most successful years ever in achieving the No. 8 spot in world rankings by Best Delegate, an organization dedicated to promoting and supporting student Model UN teams in competitions and conferences throughout the world.

“Florida State University’s year on the circuit was one defined with incredible new and dedicated talent that represents a bright and sustainable future for our Model UN program,” said outgoing Program Director Richard Sommers. “Watching underclassmen carry our torch has been an incredibly rewarding experience, and I am so proud of the exponential growth that they experienced this year.”

According to Best Delegate, the team “dominated the southern circuit” in 2018-2019 and brought home Best Large Delegation Awards from several major events. The team  also brought home numerous individual delegate awards.

“It was clear that FSU was one of the teams to beat in the southern region this year,” the Best Delegate site wrote. “Florida State University’s Model UN program celebrated its 33rd anniversary and has made incredible efforts towards the continued sustainability of the competitive travel team.”

The team was able to expand its travel and competitive opportunities this year thanks to generous support from donors in the 2018 Great Give, FSU’s online fundraising event.

Sommers said he and his fellow program members were thankful they could show their talent on the Model United Nations circuit with the fantastic assistance from program alumni and support from throughout the university.

“The team is undoubtedly only going to get even bigger and better due to everyone’s hard work and persistence,” he said. “I look forward to witnessing their continued success on the circuit next year representing our incredible university.”

Best Delegate provides in-person programs that directly impact over 3,700 students and teachers worldwide every year. Its website is used by more than 750,000 Model UN participants from around the world every year and is considered the thought leader in the development of the global Model United Nations community.

ACC Last in Revenue/Big 10 Revenue soars to $54 million per school (Update)

So the Big 10 is at $54 million per school.  Basically the SEC is looking at $25 million a year gaps PER SCHOOL.

ACC won't survive this IMHO.  Look for a Big East slow death for the ACC.  But most of us realized this long ago watching John Swofford screw things up.


https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/growing-conference-revenue-gap-adds-to-financial-concerns.256039/

Follow-up:

Don't mean to come off as the Grim Reaper with this story. But wanted to point out some of the harsh details surrounding FSU’s current financial state and the challenges ahead.

The ACC Network will undoubtedly provide a much-needed infusion of new revenue to FSU and other ACC member schools. However, some have overstated how much and how quickly that infusion will happen. A few things to consider:

* ESPN is already paying the ACC a penalty of approximately $3 million per school for failing to launch the linear network earlier. So the $29.5 million reported distribution per school will immediately drop to $26.5 million the minute the network is launched.

* Florida State invested a little over $4 million (actually much better than most other ACC schools) to build out the infrastructure for the network. So that money will need to be recouped.

* In this list of the largest alumni bases in the country, the Big Ten had a staggering 9 of the top 15 schools. The SEC had two of the top 15. The ACC had zero. That’s one of the reasons it’s unreasonable to expect the ACC Network to bring in anywhere close to the same TV revenue as the Big Ten, or SEC.

* The ACC simply doesn’t generate the same TV ratings as the Big Ten and SEC. See this list below of the top rated non-bowl games from the 2018 football season. As you can see, there are no ACC games listed.


Commentary

When the discussion of finances comes up, there are always some that point out that Florida State has always been at a disadvantage compared to schools like Florida but have still been able to thrive. That’s very true and FSU has always been able to succeed at a high level despite this disadvantage.

However, it’s important to note that (1) the financial disparity between FSU and some of its rival schools has never been greater (see story), and (2) the costs to run a successful football program have never been greater. In just the last decade there has been a massive growth in support staffs, most major programs now have state of the art stand-alone football complexes, schools must now pay a stipend to student athletes (approx. $2 million annually for FSU), and the cost of tuition/scholarships has skyrocketed in recent years.

All that money has to come from somewhere. And if you skimp on facilities or support staffs it will catch up with you.

A prime example of this is Miami. The ‘Canes had a crazy run of success between 1983-2003. In addition to national championships, UM racked up 14 10-win or more seasons during this time. However, in the last 15 years they’ve managed just one. I spoke to someone pretty high up in the college football world recently that attributed most of the Miami’s decline to poor facilities. Through the 80’s and 90’s UM’s facilities (weight room, locker room, dorms, stadium, etc.) were only slightly behind that of other major programs. However, starting in the 2000s the divide grew exponentially. The gap finally became so wide that many elite South Florida recruits that would have normally stayed home went to schools with better facilities.

Florida State isn’t to that level yet but it may not be that far away. The standalone football complex will cost approximately $60 million to build. Significant renovations are also needed for both Dick Howser and Doak Campbell Stadium. I was informed by one university source that it will cost approximately $200 million to completely renovate Doak Campbell to where it needs to be.

Point is there are some major challenges ahead for athletics and the Seminole Boosters.


https://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt-acc-revenue-taxes-0526-story.html

Here are the ACC’s distributions to each member in 2017-18.

Clemson: $31.4M

Miami: $31.0M

Boston College: $29.8M

Virginia: $29.7M

Duke: $29.7M

Florida State: $29.7M

Louisville: $29.7M

N.C. State: $29.7

Virginia Tech: $29.5M

Wake Forest: $29.1M

Syracuse: $28.6M

North Carolina: $28.5M

Pittsburgh: $28.3M

Georgia Tech: $28.1M

Notre Dame: $7.9M

All Power 5's have now released FY 18 tax returns.
Per-school distributions for the year, according to the docs:
-Big Ten: $54M to 12 longest-standing schools
-SEC: $43.7M to all except Mississippi (postseason ban)
-Big 12: $34.7M
-Pac-12 and ACC: $29.5M each

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) May 24, 2019

ACC commissioner John Swofford credited with a little more than $3.5 million in total compensation for 2017 calendar year, new conference tax doc shows. That's up from $3.3 million in 2016.

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) May 24, 2019

https://awfulannouncing.com/ncaa/big-ten-conference-record-revenue-759-million.html

Big 10: $54mill/school 
SEC: $43.7mill/school 
Big 12: $34.3mill/school 
Pac 12: $30.9mill/school 
ACC: $30.7mill/school 


https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2019/05/15/big-ten-revenue-hit-nearly-759-million-fiscal-2018/3686089002/

The revenue total was driven by new TV agreements that took effect at the start of the 2017-18 school year and resulted in payments of roughly $54 million to each of the 14-team conference’s 12 longest-standing members. Maryland and Rutgers received smaller revenue-share amounts, but both schools also received loans from the conference against future revenue shares.

Oklahoma Gave False Data for Years to 'U.S. News,' Loses Ranking

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/05/23/university-oklahoma-stripped-us-news-ranking-supplying-false

U.S. News & World Report has stripped the University of Oklahoma of its ranking, citing incorrect information provided about alumni giving. The university told U.S. News that it has been supplying incorrect data since 1999.

According to the magazine, the most recent report from Oklahoma claimed that its two-year rate of alumni giving was 14 percent, when it is actually 9.7 percent. Alumni giving counts for 5 percent of the methodology in the "Best Colleges" ranking by U.S. News. As a result, the magazine removed Oklahoma from that ranking and several others, including "best value" colleges, top public universities and best colleges for veterans.

Colleges periodically lose their rankings because of false data, sometimes submitted incorrectly but without the intent to deceive.

This marks the second time in two years that a college has been found to have submitted false data to U.S. News -- and to have done so intentionally -- for multiple years. Temple University last year admitted that its business school had submitted false data about its online M.B.A. program from 2015 to 2018. The data fraud at Oklahoma went on longer.

The student newspaper at Oklahoma, The OU Daily, reported in December that the university was investigating reports that false data had been submitted for years. A university spokeswoman confirmed the report to Inside Higher Ed, as well as the detail that the law firm Jones Day was investigating the issue. She also confirmed that the incorrect data was submitted with the intent to inflate the statistic.

The incorrect data was submitted while David Boren was president.

The university discovered the problem and reported it during the tenure of James L. Gallogly as president. He resigned this month after less than a year in office.

Boren served from 1994 to 2018. The news about submitting false data on fund-raising has been overshadowed by another investigation Jones Day is conducting, at the request of the university's board, into allegations that Boren sexually harassed male aides.

In March, the news website NonDoc published a detailed article in which an Oklahoma graduate described being offered alcohol by Boren as a prelude to Boren touching him and making advances. The graduate is quoted by name, and friends of his confirm that he spoke to them about the allegations years ago, when they happened. The graduate also alleges one incident involving Tripp Hall, a former vice president for university development. Boren continues to deny wrongdoing, and Hall does so as well.

Most under appreciated basketball programs

Which programs are under-appreciated?

Here's @TheAndyKatz's list:
🏀 Temple
🏀 FSU
🏀 St. Bonaventure
🏀 Baylor
🏀 Seton Hall
🏀 Purdue
🏀 Fresno State
🏀 Utah
🏀 Florida
🏀 Saint Mary's pic.twitter.com/zPaFvmgYXo

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) May 24, 2019