[fullmetal]

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.

Maybe to the Pac-12, but Stanford has been doing ok within the Pac-12 as of late, current season notwithstanding.  I don't think any of us should be satisfied with starving the entire Pac-12 just to gain an edge over Pac-12 teams.  We should be thinking about the annual game vs. Notre Dame as well as building a team capable of winning it all.

Also, if you have a few more million dollars in the budget, a lot of that goes to football, and that's less fundraising/shmoozing the coaches have to do, and that's more time for the coaches to be planning/coaching/recruiting.  It's more money for anything--recruiting flights, equipment, etc.  It's all a zero-sum game at that level.

[fullmetal]

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.

Maybe to the Pac-12, but Stanford has been doing ok within the Pac-12 as of late, current season notwithstanding.  I don't think any of us should be satisfied with starving the entire Pac-12 just to gain an edge over Pac-12 teams.  We should be thinking about the annual game vs. Notre Dame as well as building a team capable of winning it all.

Also, if you have a few more million dollars in the budget, a lot of that goes to football, and that's less fundraising/shmoozing the coaches have to do, and that's more time for the coaches to be planning/coaching/recruiting.  It's more money for anything--recruiting flights, equipment, etc.  It's all a zero-sum game at that level.