[2006alum]

 I don't understand the supposed powerlessness of the A.Ds. The university presidents have the power, they are presumably competent administrators, they have a lot on their plates, and one would think they rely heavily on their A.D. for opinions.

I've never understood this either. BobK, do you have any insights here? The best I can gather it that it's a coordination problem because no one university president cares enough to make the effort to get everyone together to seriously consider a change. But if the ADs are willing to do it, I have to imagine the presidents would defer to them.

How would more money help Stanford's competitiveness?  That does not seem to be what is holding Stanford back.
In fact, more money to all schools might put Stanford at a competitive disadvantage.

This is why I am somewhat sanguine about how things play out regarding media deals. Yes, it hurts us when other conferences are getting more money than we are, but we're one of the few schools to run our AD in the black thanks to the wealth and generosity of our alumni donors. Among our PAC-12 peers, everyone getting brobdingnagian media checks will level that comparative advantage, and given our strict admissions standards, no amount of fancy equipment and locker rooms is going to improve our recruiting base in a meaningful way.

[2006alum]

 I don't understand the supposed powerlessness of the A.Ds. The university presidents have the power, they are presumably competent administrators, they have a lot on their plates, and one would think they rely heavily on their A.D. for opinions.

I've never understood this either. BobK, do you have any insights here? The best I can gather it that it's a coordination problem because no one university president cares enough to make the effort to get everyone together to seriously consider a change. But if the ADs are willing to do it, I have to imagine the presidents would defer to them.

How would more money help Stanford's competitiveness?  That does not seem to be what is holding Stanford back.
In fact, more money to all schools might put Stanford at a competitive disadvantage.

This is why I am somewhat sanguine about how things play out regarding media deals. Yes, it hurts us when other conferences are getting more money than we are, but we're one of the few schools to run our AD in the black thanks to the wealth and generosity of our alumni donors. Among our PAC-12 peers, everyone getting brobdingnagian media checks will level that comparative advantage, and given our strict admissions standards, no amount of fancy equipment and locker rooms is going to improve our recruiting base in a meaningful way.