GoodOleBaylorLine said:
Rockefeller was long dead when Uchicago left the Big 10. And Stagg Field held 50,000, which was enormous by the standards of the time. UC's current stadium holds about 1,700.
So they did in fact make a conscious decision to downgrade. And it was not really very popular with alumni
The Ivies did too, although they basically just let their entire league get left behind by refusing to offer athletic scholarships or even try to meet FBS standards.
But they did it consciously, not by failing to recognize what was happening around them.
Stagg field was built 50 years before they left the conference (no debt on that thing). It was also borrowed by government for some important work in WW2. (And by the way, Rockefeller's $35mm when it was given out would be the equivalent of $1billion today.
The cost of sports, and the revenue that colleges are dependent on, has grown exponentially since the 1940s. Chicago's decision to leave the Big 10 had a fraction of the consequences that would face any school in the power 4 today.
The question is not a new one, as there were discussions during Judge McCall's tenure as to possibly downsizing the football program. It was determined then as it would be now that Baylor's investment in the football program is too large to walk away from, and that overall giving to the University is very much linked to our successful athletic programs. What were the donation levels after the Heisman year, or the Basketball NC?