Things may not be great on the playing field for University of Illinois athletics, but financially they're not as bad as a report to the federal Department of Education portrays.

The report, available at http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/, shows that revenue to the Illinois athletic program for the fiscal year ending June 30 was $55.6 million, a decline of $1.5 million from a year earlier. Three other Big Ten universities also reported drops in their revenue last year – Purdue (down $2.1 million), Michigan (down $3.9 million) and Michigan State (down $2.1 million).

But things may not be as they appear.

Because of the unusual reporting requirements of the Department of Education, athletic department revenue that goes toward capital expenditures or debt service is not counted, according to Susan Young, the associate athletic director at the UI. And because the UI is paying debt service on the bonds that financed the $121 million renovation of Memorial Stadium, millions of dollars in revenue went uncounted under the Education Department accounting rules.

If it had been counted, she said, total athletic department revenue would be in the neighborhood of $70 million.

"The Department of Education report isn't really the best report to use" regarding revenue, she said.

But the report's expenditure reports are reliable, she believes.

And they show that Illinois spent $53.7 million on its athletic program last year, about a million dollars more than the $52.6 million spent the year before.

The financial heft of Illinois' athletic department has dropped to 10th among the 11 Big Ten schools, only ahead of Northwestern's $48.5 million program, according to the financial reports.

Two years ago, Illinois was ninth with expenditures of $44.7 million. Indiana's athletic program was just behind with expenditures of $41.5 million. Since then, however, Indiana has surged ahead of Illinois, spending $55.1 million last year.

Furthermore, the expenditure line items show how much the Big Ten has developed into a league of the haves (Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan and Iowa) and the have-nots (Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana and Minnesota).

The formers spend at least $70 million a year; the latters spend $48 million to $58 million annually. Michigan State ($60.9 million) occupies the middle ground.

Illinois' is a little more than half Ohio State's gigantic $102 million budget. Northwestern's is close to half of Wisconsin's budget of about $95 million (Wisconsin still hasn't reported its most recent budget although last year's was $91.3 million).

Ohio State's athletic budget is second in the nation, trailing only Texas' $112.9 million.

While Illinois lists 463 student athletes (279 men and 184 women) in 17 sports, Ohio State had 1,033 participants in 29 sports. The latter, for example, has both men's and women's hockey teams, men's and women's lacrosse and women's rowing.

Football remains the biggest expense ($10.4 million) as well as the biggest money-maker ($25.7 million) at Illinois, as is the case at most Division 1-A schools.

While Illinois' $15 million football program profit last year helped the athletic department's bottom line, it was dwarfed by much bigger football program profits at Penn State ($42.6 million), Ohio State ($35.8 million), Michigan ($34.2 million) and Michigan State ($27.7 million).

Nationally, Texas' football program had expenses of $22.5 million, or approximately a $65 million profit. Alabama, currently No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series, spent $26.4 million on its football program for an approximate profit of $38 million.

This week's BCS ranking also include two football programs – Cincinnati and Boise State – that are significantly smaller than Illinois'. Cincinnati, which plays Illinois on Nov. 27, had $6.8 million in expenses. Boise State reported $5.3 million in expenses.

Overall, Illinois' athletic program, based on expenditures, is comparable with Missouri's ($55.6 million), Louisville's ($54 million), West Virginia's ($53.3 million) and Virginia Tech's ($50.8 million).

Men's basketball at Illinois yielded $14.5 million in revenue with $4.7 million in expenses.

Among men's basketball programs in the Big Ten, only Ohio State ($16.1 million in revenue and $4.7 million in expenses) had a better bottom line than Illinois'.

Most Big Ten programs reported spending between $4.4 million and $5.1 million for men's basketball. Indiana reported $6.9 million in expenditures, while Michigan State reported $9 million.

The winner of last year's NCAA Final Four – the University of North Carolina – reported a basketball program with $6.7 million in expenses.

Tom Kacich is a News-Gazette editor and columnist. His column appears on Wednesdays and Sundays. He can be reached at 351-5221 or at kacich<@>news-gazette.com.