Three teams currently are considering moving from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference for two main reasons - football and money.
"In essence, (football) defines your status within the NCAA," Ohio Director of Athletics Thomas Boeh said.
By joining the ACC, schools could take advantage of an NCAA rule allowing conferences with 12 or more members to compete in a conference championship. Adding a championship game means adding potential revenue to the new conference members.
"Football is definitely the leading vehicle in driving universities to various conferences because that's where most of the money can be made," Ohio Business Manager Brian Davis said.
The Mid-American Conference recently added teams to the conference in an effort to have a championship game for football. Marshall and Northern Illinois both were added in 1997 to increase the conference's membership to 12. Central Florida also has been added for football, and Buffalo was included in all sports.
But having a championship game does not provide the same money that being a member of a Bowl Championship Series conference offers. If Ohio became a member of a BCS conference, which Boeh said is not an option right now, the Bobcats could garner more money.
"It's extremely hypothetical, but it would change our world night and day," Boeh said.
One of the BCS members, Ohio State, earned $47,205,648 from its football team, whereas Ohio earned $776,516 in football revenues. Like at Ohio State, Ohio uses this money to help fund other athletic department and other sports.
"As much as people think that (football) gets a lot of stuff, and they get a huge budget, they're also providing that for me," Ohio field hockey coach Shelly Morris said. "If you look at Ohio State, and their football team funds their whole department, all of the synchronized swimming and whatever sports they have, those sports wouldn't exist if it wasn't for football. The harsh reality is, 'Yeah, we need them.'"
Ohio State wrestling coach Russ Hellickson said the football team has helped carry the Ohio State athletic department.
"(Football) brings you prestige," Hellickson said. "People want to contribute to not only the football program, but the athletic department as well."
Boeh said being a member of I-A football helps draw people to the school and builds its academic reputation as well as a way to advertise since sports are highly publicized.
While the Ohio State athletic department actually makes enough money to give some back to the university, Davis said this would be difficult to accomplish at Ohio.
"Not being a part of the BCS payout is a significant disadvantage," Davis said. "A lot of the schools are receiving multiple millions of dollars just for being in the conference regardless of how they perform. That's a big difference between us and the BCS conference schools."
But the price of building and expanding conferences around football can force other teams to travel more. The nearest conference opponent for the Bobcats is Marshall, which is about two hours East of Athens. Most Ohio teams must travel to Buffalo, Northern Illinois or Central Michigan to compete in conference games during most years.
Boeh, however, said the travels for the other sports is necessary in order to keep Ohio high on the academic food chain.
"I think that the other sport coaches understand the importance of football," Boeh said. "They understand that football sets the standard of the program."
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Eric Pfahler
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Football provides universities with prestige, but it comes with a price. The high costs of Division I football forces some athletic departments to cut or reduce the funding of non-revenue sports.
