EDITORIAL: Division I steers USD to massive monetary benefits

With the end of transition to Division I, the University of South Dakota can now reap the benefits in both sports and student life.

Take this coming weekend’s football game against the Northwestern University Wildcats. This marks the third time in three years the university has  played a Big 10 school. The athletic program, off this game alone, is set to make $325,000.

USD has played four games against Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS, teams. These teams pay Football Conference Subdivision teams to come to their home stadium and play a game.

Besides making more money than most games played at the DakotaDome combined, these games give USD a chance to receive national name recognition.

Without a doubt, the biggest win USD has ever had against a FBS team was the 2010 upset of Minnesota. The win put USD on highlights across the country and earned the team plenty of money from Minnesota as well as Coyote supporters.

The $425,000 USD earned last year against FBS powerhouse Wisconsin is money USD can dream to reach in the future.

Looking forward, after this week’s game at Northwestern, USD has Kansas on the schedule for 2013 and Kansas State for 2015.

Across the Missouri Valley Conference, every  team does the exact same thing: Play FBS teams to help build a budget that can continue to make the program grow. In order for USD to stay competitive across the board in Division I, it will depend on gaining money and using that money well.

And the football team isn’t going to be the only team seeing action against major programs across the country.

Women’s basketball will face off against the likes of Creighton University, Boise State University and KSU this season. The men’s team will also be playing major programs like the University of Iowa, Gonzaga University and Kansas State as well.

USD continues to make its mark on the world of Division-I athletics, and will become a massive asset to the development of the university.