USA Today pulls back the curtain on Boise State athletic finances

The USA Today flexed its Freedom of Information Act muscle and collected revenue and expense reports for 225 public Division-I schools, including Boise State. If you like math and money, this chart's for you (click to enlarge).

The overall lesson from USA Today's money study was that the University of Texas is stupid with money. Like gold toilets stupid. The takeaway for Bronco fans is that Boise State continues to increase spending and earning to the point that it really won't look all that out of place in the Big East in a couple of years.

To wit, Boise State's expenses and revenue in 2011 were each a little over $37 million. The bottom of the Big East, Cincinnati and South Florida, were in the $40 million range. That gap is nothing a little TV money and a few extra thousand stadium seats can't bridge. (By comparison, Boise State would have to nearly triple its revenues to match Louisville and quintuple its revenues to match Texas. Solution: $20 stadium churros.)

The USA Today report breaks down expenses and revenues into even more granular numbers with breakouts for ticket sales, subsidies, contributions, licensing, coaching salaries, building expenses, and more. Of note is Boise State's $10 million in licensing revenue in 2010, its nearly $10 million in contributions in 2011, and the obvious spike in all-around spending and raking in about the time that Coach Pete started openly lobbying for Boise State to start keeping up with the Joneses. The Joneses do not ascribe to Financial Peace.

Your turn

What do you take away from the financial numbers in the USA Today report? Impressed by Boise State's spending and earning? Think they are doing enough to keep up with their future Big East competition? Share your thoughts in the comments.