I suspect that many externalities, both positive and negative, are ignored (sometimes selectively) when schools make statements about the profitability of a spo

I suspect that many externalities, both positive and negative, are ignored (sometimes selectively) when schools make statements about the profitability of a sports program. A few months ago, I was surprised to learn that the daughter of my wife's friend was not accepted to Ohio State. She was an in-state resident with a 23 on her ACT. Hardly a stellar score, but above the National average. Back in my day (15 years ago), she would have been rubber-stamped. Apparently, OSU was able to parlay its success on the football field into lots of undergrad applications. So, they were able to become more selective. This may be the start of a positive feedback loop that results in a reputation more like U of M than some random state college. [No, I don't think reputation is everything. But, if that's what they wanted to improve, sports may have been a very efficient mechanism for all the wrong reasons.]