[BigJohn043]

A bunch of things can be true at once:
<snip>

2)  We have the second largest AD in D1 despite having one of the smallest student bodies

If this is true (and I assume it is), that is the real issue. We are a "small" university in terms of number of students. Ohio State, Michigan,  etc. dwarf us, yet they have smaller ADs. They aren't chopped liver. Why in the world is this so? That is the point that needs exploring.

At 35 sports the only other D1 program of that size is Ohio State.  Most major programs have something in the mid to low 20s or about what we are going to cut to.

I will say that Ivies and some D3 schools like MIT have large 30+ sport programs.  But they don't give scholarships.  And the academic breaks at least at the Ivies are fairly different from what we do.

[BigJohn043]

A bunch of things can be true at once:
<snip>

2)  We have the second largest AD in D1 despite having one of the smallest student bodies

If this is true (and I assume it is), that is the real issue. We are a "small" university in terms of number of students. Ohio State, Michigan,  etc. dwarf us, yet they have smaller ADs. They aren't chopped liver. Why in the world is this so? That is the point that needs exploring.

At 35 sports the only other D1 program of that size is Ohio State.  Most major programs have something in the mid to low 20s or about what we are going to cut to.

I will say that Ivies and some D3 schools like MIT have large 30+ sport programs.  But they don't give scholarships.  And the academic breaks at least at the Ivies are fairly different from what we do.