By The Numbers

There's been some lively debate on the HoyaTalk board in recent weeks about Georgetown's commitments to football, of which a special column later this season will discuss this in detail. But how does Georgetown fare against other schools?

For FY 2012, here were the football budgets per school in Division I-AA:

1	Montana State University	MT	$8,777,441
2	Liberty University	VA	$8,424,492
3	James Madison University	VA	$6,608,363
4	Old Dominion University	VA	$5,936,486
5	Fordham University	NY	$5,742,437
6	The University of Montana	MT	$5,656,889
7	University of Delaware	DE	$5,637,071
8	University of Richmond	VA	$5,563,301
9	Coastal Carolina University	SC	$5,420,560
10	Furman University	SC	$5,414,705
11	Villanova University	PA	$5,331,113
12	The University of Texas at San Antonio	TX	$5,140,135
13	Samford University	AL	$5,065,979
14	Colgate University	NY	$4,655,304
15	College of William and Mary	VA	$4,502,955
16	Lehigh University	PA	$4,486,823
17	Texas State University-San Marcos	TX	$4,400,906
18	Lafayette College	PA	$4,307,856
19	Presbyterian College	SC	$4,267,420
20	University of New Hampshire	NH	$4,064,025
21	Elon University	NC	$4,059,394
22	Bethune-Cookman University	FL	$3,950,538
23	Military College of S.C. (The Citadel)	SC	$3,915,023
24	Stony Brook University	NY	$3,909,564
25	College of the Holy Cross	MA	$3,900,385
26	University of Maine	ME	$3,864,144
27	Appalachian State University	NC	$3,769,377
28	Towson University	MD	$3,758,847
29	University of Rhode Island	RI	$3,736,644
30	Tennessee State University	TN	$3,698,630
31	North Dakota State University	ND	$3,663,103
32	Portland State University	OR	$3,639,220
33	Wofford College	SC	$3,629,852
34	Jacksonville State University	AL	$3,496,695
35	Youngstown State University	OH	$3,434,264
36	Eastern Kentucky University	KY	$3,386,349
37	Western Carolina University	NC	$3,372,801
38	University of Northern Iowa	IA	$3,329,150
39	Illinois State University	IL	$3,320,123
40	Virginia Military Institute	VA	$3,277,337
41	University of California-Davis	CA	$3,273,095
42	Yale University	CT	$3,269,637
43	Stephen F Austin State University	TX	$3,269,083
44	Georgia Southern University	GA	$3,204,295
45	Eastern Washington University	WA	$3,189,869
46	Indiana State University	IN	$3,166,886
47	Bucknell University	PA	$3,143,317
48	California State University-Sacramento	CA	$3,135,833
49	Lamar University	TX	$3,110,092
50	The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga	TN	$3,026,805
51	Southern Illinois University Carbondale	IL	$3,026,509
52	Cornell University	NY	$3,015,349
53	South Carolina State University	SC	$2,976,432
54	Gardner-Webb University	NC	$2,915,011
55	University of North Dakota	ND	$2,882,246
56	California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo	CA	$2,877,772
57	Florida A&M University	FL	$2,839,529
58	Northern Arizona University	AZ	$2,838,620
59	Monmouth University	NJ	$2,830,733
60	Alabama State University	AL	$2,822,717
61	Idaho State University	ID	$2,816,722
62	Delaware State University	DE	$2,780,689
63	Tennessee Technological University	TN	$2,770,566
64	University of Northern Colorado	CO	$2,758,235
65	Eastern Illinois University	IL	$2,741,908
66	Columbia University	NY	$2,724,416
67	Sam Houston State University	TX	$2,702,057
68	University of South Dakota	SD	$2,687,140
69	Western Illinois University	IL	$2,681,347
70	Texas Southern University	TX	$2,625,065
71	Weber State University	UT	$2,613,189
72	The University of Tennessee-Martin	TN	$2,599,061
73	Northwestern State University of Louisiana	LA	$2,597,012
74	Murray State University	KY	$2,585,918
75	North Carolina Central University	NC	$2,585,474
76	Dartmouth College	NH	$2,533,590
77	Southeastern Louisiana University	LA	$2,455,666
78	South Dakota State University	SD	$2,435,000
79	Alabama A & M University	AL	$2,406,862
80	Charleston Southern University	SC	$2,397,756
81	Morgan State University	MD	$2,386,808
82	Missouri State University-Springfield	MO	$2,364,352
83	University of Central Arkansas	AR	$2,354,686
84	Norfolk State University	VA	$2,332,815
85	Harvard University	MA	$2,327,799
86	Southern Utah University	UT	$2,280,246
87	Princeton University	NJ	$2,234,537
88	Bryant University	RI	$2,232,225
89	North Carolina A & T State University	NC	$2,223,483
90	Duquesne University	PA	$2,197,308
91	Howard University	DC	$2,146,987
92	Southeast Missouri State University	MO	$2,107,096
93	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$2,104,207
94	Alcorn State University	MS	$2,046,026
95	Grambling State University	LA	$1,985,964
96	Robert Morris University	PA	$1,976,296
97	Austin Peay State University	TN	$1,894,229
98	Central Connecticut State University	CT	$1,890,549
99	Sacred Heart University	CT	$1,887,505
100	SUNY at Albany	NY	$1,863,369
101	Prairie View A & M University	TX	$1,824,275
102	Nicholls State University	LA	$1,808,339
103	Savannah State University	GA	$1,775,645
104	Saint Francis University	PA	$1,773,629
105	Brown University	RI	$1,729,613
106	University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff	AR	$1,712,726
107	Georgetown University	DC	$1,686,269
108	Southern University and A&M College	LA	$1,554,532
109	Jackson State University	MS	$1,504,899
110	University of San Diego	CA	$1,269,465
111	Campbell University	NC	$1,143,155
112	Jacksonville University	FL	$1,126,146
113	Mississippi Valley State University	MS	$1,088,097
114	University of Dayton	OH	$975,237
115	Morehead State University	KY	$928,306
116	Valparaiso University	IN	$879,762
117	Drake University	IA	$876,039
118	Marist College	NY	$870,416
119	Davidson College	NC	$790,295
120	Butler University	IN	$648,837

That's a low number by any measurement, but let's do some comparison. How does Georgetown rank among Patriot League schools, where five schools rank among the top 25 programs by budget?

5	Fordham University	NY	$5,742,437
14	Colgate University	NY	$4,655,304
16	Lehigh University	PA	$4,486,823
18	Lafayette College	PA	$4,307,856
25	College of the Holy Cross	MA	$3,900,385
47	Bucknell University	PA	$3,143,317
107	Georgetown University	DC	$1,686,269

Next, how would Georgetown rank among spending in the Ivy League? Better, but still on the bottom looking up:

42	Yale University	CT	$3,269,637
52	Cornell University	NY	$3,015,349
66	Columbia University	NY	$2,724,416
76	Dartmouth College	NH	$2,533,590
85	Harvard University	MA	$2,327,799
87	Princeton University	NJ	$2,234,537
93	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$2,104,207
105	Brown University	RI	$1,729,613
107	Georgetown University	DC	$1,686,269

And who are Georgetown's peers, financially speaking? A collection of historically black colleges and Pioneer schools.

106	University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff	AR	$1,712,726
107	Georgetown University	DC	$1,686,269
108	Southern University and A & M College	LA	$1,554,532
109	Jackson State University	MS	$1,504,899
110	University of San Diego	CA	$1,269,465
111	Campbell University	NC	$1,143,155
112	Jacksonville University	FL	$1,126,146
113	Mississippi Valley State University	MS	$1,088,097
114	University of Dayton	OH	$975,237
115	Morehead State University	KY	$928,306
116	Valparaiso University	IN	$879,762
117	Drake University	IA	$876,039
118	Marist College	NY	$870,416
119	Davidson College	NC	$790,295
120	Butler University	IN	$648,837

But let's take this same group and add their records to date this season. The numbers shouldn't surprise anyone.

106	University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff	SWAC	2-7
107	Georgetown University	Patriot	1-8
108	Southern University and A&M College	SWAC	6-4
109	Jackson State University	SWAC	7-2
110	University of San Diego	Pioneer	7-3
111	Campbell University	Pioneer	2-8
112	Jacksonville University	Pioneer	4-6
113	Mississippi Valley State University	SWAC	2-8
114	University of Dayton	Pioneer	6-4
115	Morehead State University	Pioneer	3-7
116	Valparaiso University	Pioneer	1-9
117	Drake University	Pioneer	6-4
118	Marist College	Pioneer	7-3
119	Davidson College	Pioneer	0-10
120	Butler University	Pioneer	8-3

If you've come to the conclusion that Georgetown should simply focus on playing black college opponents and underfunded midwestern colleges, you're missing the point. Money doesn't buy championships-- but there is causality between spending and success. It's no guarantee, of course: Columbia is slogging through its worst season in a generation and it outspends Brown by 45 percent. But it's hard to miss the names at the top with what they accomplish, versus those on the bottom. You are what your budget says you are.

For Georgetown, it needs to stop pleading poverty and chart a sustainable course for budget growth in football. The good news is that it's reasonable and realistic. The bad news is it needs to get some more people behind it.

Week 9 Thoughts

Some thoughts following Lafayette’s 45-27 win over Georgetown Saturday.

Saturday’s game in one word? Deflating.

Watching the end of the game was, to me, a feeling not unlike the end of the 2005 season, a 34-7 loss to Colgate that marked Georgetown’s third straight loss and, unknown to everyone at the time, Bob Benson’s final game as Georgetown coach. The 2005 season was known for some big losses (Holy Cross, 48-6, Brown, 34-3, Cornell 57-7), but maybe more importantly, close losses. The Hoyas lost three games by a total of 11 points—a 4-7 record could just as easily been 7-4.What might have been.

Such is not the case in 2013. Since the first week of the season, the Hoyas have not lost a game by less than 18 points, and too many games have been out of reach by halftime, with unseemly margins closed only by late quarter scores. Georgetown trailed Lafayette 35-7 when the reserves went in. Whatever “momentum” was gained with a well planned drive was flushed when Lafayette took the return kickoff largely untouched, up the middle, for 99 yards.

So where’s the outrage? Where’s the voices demanding responsibility? Well, they were probably at home. Saturday’s crowd at unfinished Multi-Sport Field was generously billed at 1,789 but it seems a lot of folks attended as unadorned aluminum bleachers. The losing streak and the lack of any public direction on where this square peg of a Patriot League program is headed has too many fans simply not interested. "Is it November yet?" they ask, and that's not a query about football.

Others ask, if Georgetown is getting thumped by 15-scholarship Patriot teams, what happens when it’s 30 scholarships next year? Then 45? Then 60?

Last week, coach Kevin Kelly spoke up about the elephant in the room, Georgetown’s lack of football scholarships. That no one from The HOYA or the Washington Post or WRC-TV has raised this all season is one thing, but other than The HOYA, who else is asking? Kelly’s comments follow below:

“It’s not my choice, but I am seeing this, it is affecting our recruiting. People, the first question they ask is, Are you giving scholarships? And I have to be honest and say that we’re not. And you’re starting to see in the league this year that some of these scholarship athletes are starting to make an impact on the league right away. In fact, just look at the two quarterbacks from Holy Cross and Lafayette last week. There are two great examples right there. Actually, we’re going to have to make a decision what we’re doing here.”

A follow-up from this weekend from veteran PL writer Paul Reinhard:

“Georgetown lost for the seventh straight week. The administration at the university declined to go along with the rest of the league in instituting merit-based scholarships beginning with the [2013] recruiting class. Things are not going to get any better for the Hoyas [if] there is no change of mind from above. I will not be at all surprised if this is the last season at Georgetown for Coach Kelly. He told us [earlier] in the week that the university had to make a decision about scholarships for the future. I’m afraid that decision has already been made.”

The University is not a place that supports out of turn quotes, especially from coaches. A generation of track coaches never publicly complained when their facilities went away, when coaches were left borrowing vans for a nationally ranked program to train off-hours at Washington & lee HS because that was as good as they could get. In fact, for some number of years there was no public comment about track facilities, save for a frank discussion by Ron Helmer at an athletic awards dinner one year. Helmer was later hired away by Indiana, which could offer him full-sized facilities for both indoor and outdoor track which would dwarf anything imaginable at Georgetown.

John Thompson or Craig Esherick didn’t choose to complain about how bad McDonough Gymnasium was for recruiting, though they well could have, and even now JT III is very measured in what he will say about the ongoing delays with the IAC. Georgetown has a field hockey team that practices at American and plays at College Park because Georgetown never fixed Kehoe Field. As a result, the team is 2-16 and struggles to be of interest to any serious recruit in the sport. Even Kevin Kelly has steered clear of any substantive thoughts on the MSF dilemma, even as Benson made no secret about the mess in his last months as coach—and that was after a delay of 30 or 40 days, not 2,972.

Scholarships are different, however. Parents ask. Recruits ask. Reporters north of the Mason-Dixon line ask. But Georgetown seems to have no good answer on what to say. Yes, there are discussions, I’m convinced of that. But institutionally, it’s not the priority to the University as it is for the coaches, because the University isn’t losing credibility over a 1-8 season. But coaches are.

And consider this: Of the 24 seniors graduating next year, 21 were on the two-deep at some point this season. That’s a lot of gaps to fill, and if the results of the last recruiting class is any trend, the talent gap is going to widen even more in 2014. Kelly and his staff are facing a two pronged problem—the opponents are getting stronger and the replacements are getting weaker.

The last sustained statement from Georgetown on this issue? February 2012.

“Georgetown will continue its membership in the Patriot League in the sport of football and explore all of its options, including our ability to compete as a need-based aid program.  We remain committed to our goal of providing our student athletes with an unparalleled academic experience and an athletically competitive football program.”

Meanwhile, the coaches have to go out and recruit, perhaps with a 1-10 season under its belt, four years removed from 0-11 but more importantly, two years removed from an 8-3 season. They have to tell a parent why Lehigh can offer a $60,000 check but Georgetown can’t. Or tell another parent why Lafayette shows lots of pictures of their stadium and field house but Georgetown can't. Or, just as likely, they have to concede that five, 10, or 20 good prospects who were so interested at Georgetown a year ago will end up going somewhere else and there’s nothing they can do about it.

That’s deflating.