Which universities spend the most on athletics?

Number one is UT Austin, at $112.9 million a year, followed by Ohio State, U. Florida, Louisiana State, U. Tennessee, Wisconsin-Madison, Auburn, Alabama, U. OK, and then USC, which is still spending $80 million a year.

That is from Charles’s Clotfelter’s very good new book Big-Time Sports in American Universities.  Clotfelter is relatively sympathetic to sports in universities and considers their fundraising and civic virtue advantages.  Of course those numbers are gross and not net expenditures.