USA Today published a table last week showing how much help each Division I athletic department received from its university in 2010 compared to 2006. Team Speed Kills did an excellent job analyzing the SEC's contributions to the list, while BC Interruption did the same for ACC schools.
It's definitely worth a look. Generally, the lower the percentage next to a school's name, the better, though there are nuances to consider.
The LSU Tigers field the only Southeastern athletic department to receive no financial assistance from its university itself, though almost all of the SEC is under 10 percent -- the exceptions being the Mississippi St. Bulldogs, who have major resource disadvantages to overcome, and the Tennessee Volunteers, who are spending money to significantly upgrade facilities.
ACC teams are largely clustered in the teens, except for the Maryland Terrapins. It's interesting to see Maryland and FSU, the ACC's two largest schools, separated by so much. The Florida St. Seminoles only need their university to pick up 10 percent of their costs, while the Terps are sitting at a quarter.
At the other end of the spectrum, you'll note both the Kennesaw St. Owls and Georgia St. Panthers appear in the top-10 most-subsidized programs by percentage, though that shouldn't raise alarms, for now -- Kennesaw State is both still transitioning to Division I and starting up a football program, while Georgia State has just kicked off one of its own.
The Georgia Southern Eagles show up at 73 percent, right in the middle of the wide-ranging SoCon.
Thoughts?