Basketball success helped boost enrollment numbers, as well as the number of season-ticket holders who contribute annually. Only 25 percent of season-ticket holders were annual donors in 2006-07, but that has grown to 40 percent.

Collier said Butler, in Indianapolis, also set enrollment records in the years following the Sweet 16 finishes.

"How important is it for Butler and Drake's athletic programs to be bringing this kind of attention to their schools?" Collier said. "It is not a matter of importance. It is a matter of something that we should be aspiring to do. It is ... something that we both need to capitalize on."

Drake president David Maxwell and Hatfield Clubb know team success should increase interest in the university and Bulldog athletics.

One official values national media coverage of Drake's 21-game winning streak and conference championships this season at $3.5 million.

"We could never afford" to replicate that kind of exposure, said Brooke Benschoter, university public relations director for Drake.

Drake officials say they expect an increase in inquiries from potential applicants and the ability to be more selective about the caliber of students accepted. More visits this spring from prospective students will not mean a larger freshman class, though. Freshman enrollment is estimated at 830, compared to the 925 who enrolled last year.

"We make a promise about the kind of school we are," said Tom Delahunt, vice president for admissions. "Small classes - students will know their professors; two students to a room, not four, and no long lines at the book store."

National research shows impacts of short-term athletic success vary widely - and often are temporary.

"When there is this kind of national success in a marquee sport, you will see a bump in admission's interest and a bump in alumni giving," Maxwell said. "At the same time, the research shows that schools that invest in athletics with an expectation of return on the basis of admissions and philanthropy rarely see a positive return on that."

For Bryan Moon, Drake's athletic future is something he will ponder after the final chapter of this season has been written.

Moon plans to be in the crowd to watch the team he has supported - through thick and, mostly, thin.

"Right now, I am living in the moment because that is the only way," said Moon, a Drake graduate. "I want to see how far this is going to go because no matter how it ends, it's been a great thing to watch and support."