The B1G has the most lucrative TV contract in college sports. There is zero reason PSU couldn’t outspend 85% of all college basketball programs if it wanted to. But - does it want to?
Couple things:
1) PSU, as of this moment, still has one of the lowest Men's Basketball budgets in the B10. No doubt
2) That said, nationwide, PSU, as of this moment, is probably just about at the "outspend 85%" you noted wrt all other D1 programs (350ish of them)
3) PSU has already increased its Men's Basketball spend by around 60% over the last few years
4) Based on the reports of what PSU offered Shrewsberry, PSU would have jumped up to about the top 30 nationwide if Shrewsberry "took the deal" (Well above the "more than 85%" mark - so it certainly would appear they (PSU ICA) were more than willing to go to that level of spending - and might just do that with their next hire. FWIW, salary of the Head Coach is a HUGE factor in overall spend for all the major conference basketball programs - much more so than in, for example, football. In basketball, coach salary is a MUCH higher part of the overall spend - at times approaching 1/2 of the total budget - and thus greatly influences standing relative to overall program spending.)
5) And this is more than a minor consideration: I do not think there are any trophies handed out for "outspending" the competition. I certainly hope and expect "spending" per se is not a goal in and of itself (I expect you agree).
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