Utah State Aggies are meanest, leanest on the block

As perfect as last season was for the Utah football team, it wasn't the school that won a national championship.

Utah State was.

OK, it wasn't a football title; it wasn't basketball, tennis or gymnastics, either. But when you're USU, you take it where you can. The Aggie championship came compliments of the Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics at Texas A&M. A release, this week, said USU was the most economically efficient athletic department in America, thus earning the Excellence in Management Cup.

"Bang for the buck, so to speak," said USU athletics director Scott Barnes.

You've got to start someplace, and these days, starting in the accounting office isn't a bad idea.

"An award like this brings into focus that we can do more with less overall," said Barnes.

The Texas "laboratory" ranked schools according to a formula that included total athletic department spending, number of sports played and number of conference and national titles. USU won no national championships last year. Still, it graded out first, due to conference crowns in soccer, men's basketball, outdoor men's track and women's and men's cross country.

BYU and Utah finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the study.

"We won five conference championships," said Barnes. "We're still looking for that elusive national title."

Actually, USU has won national championships before. Roughly three decades ago, it was the country's best in softball — twice — and volleyball. But a national football championship — then or now — isn't in the cards.

"Certainly our goal is not to win a football national title, but it is to win a conference championship," said Barnes.

Even that would be a stretch. With Boise State dominating the WAC, and Hawaii and Fresno State making occasional showings, asking USU to win a conference championship is asking a lot. But that doesn't mean Utah State plans to scale back to FCS (I-AA) football status, either.

"That isn't even a consideration of ours," said Barnes. "Going down (to FCS), in our mind, shouldn't even be (included) in a sentence with Utah State. It's not where we're heading."

Barnes said other than the difference in scholarships — 63 rather than 85 — there is little money to be saved by dropping to a smaller division. Travel costs are still high, while the gate guarantees from road games are far below those at the top level. Likewise, there are fewer, less lucrative opportunities with conference revenue sharing, TV and radio contracts.