Why Can't Colleges Succeed At Both?

[DaveB]

Why do college programs seem to have the inability to be successful on both the basketball court *and* the football field? It's almost like an unwritten rule that you can only have one or the other but not both. You never see a program that's continually competing for a national title in both on a consistent basis.

Take the SEC for example. Consistent national championship contenders in football but outside of UK, not even a blip on the radar in hoops.

The ACC almost mirrors it as you have several basketball schools that are powerhouses but the only team that ever plays a role in football is FSU.

Does it all boil down to the paycheck?

[FamousJames]

Money and tradition. It's expensive to recruit, train, coach, and produce talent. I guess the alumni at Duke just don't watch much football and prefer maintaining supremacy at basketball without bothering to pony up to develop the football team.

Speaking as a totally biased FSU guy, we've been historically pretty good at football and baseball, but inconsistent/bad at basketball. Football gets the alumni donations.

Last time I paid attention to a school that was good at both, it was UF.

[Rainbow Bright]

Money. Football takes up a shitload of a football powerhouse's budget. I think around 78% of Oregon's budget is athletics. And that's mostly football. And defense attorneys to get said footballers out of trouble.