[sdillon500]

Came across the numbers for the director's cup the other day, the national rankings for how well a school performs in athletics. It has some interesting data.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/...IStandings.pdf

Iowa State comes in at No. 58, middle of the pack. However, ISU's athletic budget is only $29 million dollars. Not crazy, but kinda low for this tier, suggesting the Cyclone's are overachieving with regards to athletics.

Check out the some other schools in this tier, their budgets & their respective ranking.

45 - Virginia Tech: $45.7 million
47 - Clemson: $40.4 million
49 - Miami (Florida): $51.6 million
50 - Iowa: $61.7 million
58 - Iowa State: $28.9 million
59 - Texas Tech: $47.9 million
61 - NC State: $35.8 million
62 - Colorado: $35.8 million

(Source: Indianapolis Star)
http://www2.indystar.com/NCAA_financial_reports/

Removing the outliers of ISU & Iowa, the average budget for this level is about $42.9 million dollars. Iowa State is overachieving like crazy, while Iowa, to borrow a phrase from Patton Oswalt, is a failure pile in a sadness bowl.

[cy1225]

According to the numbers the AD put out the ISU budget is $36 million not $28 million.

[aeroclone08]

It appears those budget numbers are from the 2004-2005 school year, while the directors cup standings are from 2007-2008.

[goldmember]

I thought budget was factored into the rating?