<p>When any college makes the news for any number of positive reasons, donations go up. It seems to stir those feelings of loyalty & nostalgia. Alumni donating to their schools during a winning football season aren't doing so to support the team. They've been inspired to open their checkbook & this is the goal of any marketing effort. Winning football teams are very, very effective marketing tools. Not to mention the increase in applications & media attention that spills over into coverage of academic strengths & gives validation to the overall mission of the school.</p>
<p>garland, wasn't it Michigan that used to run those NASA commercials where their fight song was playing in the space capsule? That was totally cool, I thought. Stanford is also big on emphasizing the student part of the student-athlete equation. And many others.</p>
<p>If Utah state & other schools are draining academic resources to field a crummy football team with no fan support, that's another issue altogether. (Sorry to any Utah fans. Off the top of my head, I don't know how solid the program is.)</p>