More money is always the solution; but if money was that easy to come by we would have better facilities, better coaches and better athletes? WRONG. If there was money to be had then other schools would have it as well and 13 of those (other DI schools in the state of Ohio) would have it before YSU. All that would happen is that the price of a ticket would go up. There is not enough money for schools to have more than one truly & consistently good major men's DI athletic sport. If program's still cannot get the funds to compete, then they need to consider lower level athletics (as YSU does in football). If Butler had as good of a football team as they do Men's basketball, then we would see their football team competing for a P5 conference crown (and corresponding FBS play-off berth) every year, instead of being "walked on" by teams with much less talent than YSU. Now you can be UConn, with stellar men's & women's basketball programs, but I would suspect that YSU would probably have at least a .500 overall record against them on the gridiron. If I recall we have recently beaten UConn in Women's tennis and baseball (at least).
This is why I have always said that we need to focus on Lady Pens basketball, where are dollars can go further. Our facilities are good, our scholarship availability is, at least, competitive. It may even bee too late. Right now there are monies available simply because of gender (Title IX). ESPN is dumping lots of $$$ into the women's Tourney and drawing attention already. Please do not respond with UNI or NDSU. UNI is the tops in combined MM football and men's basketball ...but they are far from the top DI football and men's basketball program. NDSU is the largest school in N. Dakota and the 2nd-largest school in a 4-state region. They are standing at the head of the line for government monies and local business support. Meanwhile (when I lived in Youngstown) my doctors and dentist proudly placed their OSU diplomas, attire and I guarantee you donation dollars ...for the Buckeyes ...our state's biggest and best team. It should also be noted that many federal educational dollars are given equally to each state. If it was not for women's athletics and targeted minority enrollment, YSU would be at the bottom of all schools in our 4-state region ... and if you take away new DI institutions receiving their initial monies and/or private schools, we probably are at the bottom. However, walking around YSU's campus, you would never know this. So be happy that you have Tressel and Strollo helping us with our impression, as this is what will help us in the recruiting and donation battles.
