By John Byczkowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

There's little doubt University of Cincinnati athletics will take in more money when the school joins the Big East Conference in 2005, but is it possible they'll lose more as well?

UC athletic director Bob Goin said, "We believe we're going to take in more money from the Big East than we take from Conference USA."

The Big East has more and larger television contracts than Conference USA, and Goin hopes for more basketball and football ticket sales.

The 15 Big East schools took in nearly $280 million in revenues from athletics in the 2001-02 academic year, some 70 percent more than the $160 million earned by 14 Conference USA schools, according to the latest figures available from the U.S. Department of Education.

But that doesn't mean the Big East made money. Athletics losses totaled nearly $50 million, and 10 of 15 schools saw athletics operate in the red.

By comparison, losses for the Conference USA schools came to less than $20 million, and eight of the 14 schools lost money on athletics. UC was one of five schools that operated in that black, and one school broke even.

Goin said how much more revenue UC gets by joining the Big East hasn't been determined. But he doesn't think athletic department expenses will be hurt by the move to the Big East.

UC will give up trips to far-flung cities such as New Orleans, Houston and Fort Worth, Texas.

"Our volleyball team and our tennis teams aren't going to have to travel as far to get some competition," he said.

Big East membership has driven some schools to expand facilities, but Goin said UC's are in fine shape. Construction continues on the $80 million Varsity Village athletic center.

"We have a beautiful basketball arena that we need to sell out," he said. "Nippert (Stadium) is great, and if we get 50-60,000, we'll ask the Bengals if they'll let us use Paul Brown Stadium."

Money for athletics

Of 16 schools in the new Big East, 10 lost money on athletics. All figures are for the 2001-02 academic year, except Villanova (2000-01).

Name	Revenues	Expenses	Difference
Cincinnati	$18,863,048	$17,988,871	$874,177
Connecticut	$34,449,567	$35,530,366	-$1,080,799
DePaul	$1,492,241	$5,433,522	-$3,941,281
Georgetown	$10,411,216	$14,263,661	-$3,852,445
Louisville	$30,016,899	$30,156,557	-$139,658
Marquette	$4,380,165	$6,122,221	-$1,742,056
Notre Dame	$44,744,384	$38,548,933	$6,195,451
Pittsburgh	$20,154,732	$26,103,561	-$5,948,829
Providence	$4,711,900	$9,793,059	-$5,081,159
Rutgers	$30,134,855	$30,134,855	$0
Seton Hall	$8,253,494	$10,304,961	-$2,051,467
South Florida	$13,666,671	$13,343,954	$322,717
St. John's	$3,767,747	$4,910,263	-$1,142,516
Syracuse	$38,458,514	$38,344,825	$113,689
Villanova	$4,108,122	$11,124,030	-$7,015,908
West Virginia	$24,514,210	$24,181,924	$332,286

Source: U.S. Department of Education.