(09-14-2022, 06:33 PM)Alvin Wrote: The author Kramon's position is that Stanford should downgrade to a lesser conference or division and focus on the non-revenue "olympic" sports if the administration, board and alumni will not support NIL payments to at least the level of other competing programs.
The thing is football and basketball money, along with NIL, is boosting the "Olympic" sports too (and the NIL deals in these sports that are growing rapidly in viewership/interest will only continue to grow). So I think the idea that Stanford can de-emphasize football and remain competitive at a DI national championship level beyond maybe a sport or two here or there is unfounded. The example I would use is Harvard: Harvard has 42 programs, the most in the country. Aside from regional sports like squash and other sports like crew, Harvard is not competing for national championships in most sports. It has even been over 20 years since Harvard won a hockey national championship.
If Stanford dropped to Div II or Div III, sure, we would probably win national championships. But it would be sad to go from a (current) streak of almost 50 years with at least one national championship at the Div I level to competing for D2 or D3 titles.