Quote:I know everyone makes fun of Harbaugh (and Hail to a point for his UM love), but it's fascinating the lengths and money these schools are going to now to bring in recruits.  It's not just stadiums and weight rooms anymore, it's rec centers, student gyms, dorms....they pour millions into it just so the football team can make more millions and pour that money back into the school. 

 

Michigan isn't the only school doing it, all the big schools are...if you aren't, you're falling behind.  UF is falling behind.

 

Yep, and it's not just athletic facilities... dorms, campus amenities, and on and on to attract on the academic side as well.  In many ways curriculum is taking a back seat to comforts.  Looking at it from the school side, all else relatively equal academically and/or athletic program-wise with the schools they are competing for students, they want to have the best "visit" for prospective students.  Certainly not something new, and something they all continue to evolve.  However, it does seem like they're all going overboard in some respects with the pampering.

 

Like with successful business, they will have to hone in on what actually matters rather than try to cater to every whim.  Otherwise, they are attempting to fulfill unlimited desires with finite resources.  Problem is, schools have shown very poor business sense historically speaking.  Unless they are sports rich and/or have strong programs that provide a healthy, strong stream of grant money... they either won't be able to keep up, and even if they do... many still have to increase costs to students to a point it's getting arguably unsustainable.

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