Fundraising still the name of the game. Hiring competent coaches helps that of course. I don't know details of how $ money raising is going. Part of me wonders how if we had kept FB going, 30 years later the Pac/MW would be salivating to have an LA area member. It wouldn't be Big Ten money, but on that note:

Ohio State posted over $30 million in losses in their most recent report. Indiana only posted a $3million loss, but that includes over $26mil "loan" from the university. Sure the CFP will eat into that, but sustainable?!? Would either Pac/MWC do anything with that kind of scenario? No way.

And the true sign of it coming crashing down is Utah's deal with private equity ($500m). I would think the SEC (gov't agency, not conference) and a number of other agencies (CFIP, IRS, etc.) are going to scrutinize handing over the athletic department functioning to an outside agency. There's no way the university could kick any money to that new Branding partnership to cover any over runs.

The irony is that the best example of a west coast university that has an athletic foundation dedicated to keeping athletics self sufficient by fundraising is Stanford, and because they can't cave to academic entry requirements, their big time sports have continued to be mediocre in NIL era.

Long Term, athletics needs investments that generate yearly income to cover costs, not donations covering costs every year. Additional foundational donations to build facilities then enhance this.