They can do what Colorado does and try to stay within striking distance of the most successful programs competitively and financially. They can follow the path of Colorado State and try to make their money stretch further. Then, there is the way that troubles Dempsey the most, a choice made by seven schools in California alone. When their football programs failed in Division I-A, instead of dropping in classification, they gave up. There's a framed picture on the wall of Jon Burianek, CU's senior associate athletic director and the department's No. 1 numbers cruncher.
Economic crunches are nothing new to athletics.
In 1980, Colorado eliminated seven sports because its budget was so far in the red. But today, CU athletic director Dick Tharp talks of bringing baseball, one of the programs cut that year, back to life. He does not perceive any kind of emergency in majorcollege athletics, and says he does not worry about any arms race, only his own teams. But there is a point where you're so behind somebody, you can't hire good coaches. You can't hire good assistant coaches.