In fact, thanks to the success of those two teams, Florida's athletic program
has contributed more than $55 million to the university for academics since 1990.
It was the performance, however, of those other teams that enabled Florida to place
second to Stanford in the Directors' Cup earlier this year. It did not come cheaply.
Florida's spending on nearly every non-revenue sport has more than doubled over the
past decade, even after adjusting for inflation, according to financial documents reported
annually to the N.C.A.A. Spending on women's gymnastics, swimming and track grew even faster.
Floridas more than 440 athletes are treated by a cadre of physiotherapists and monitored by
an army of academic advisers. They practice and play in new facilities. "Jeremy and everyone
here truly believe that every athlete who steps onto this campus should be afforded the same
resources, the same opportunities and same experiences as Tim Tebow", said the lacrosse coach,
Amanda O'Leary, referring to the Gators' Heisman trophy-winning quarterback.
Stanford, the perennial winner of the Director's Cup, captures it with scale: it has 35 programs
from which to choose the top 10 men's and women's results that count toward the cup rankings.
The Gators have 21 sports. In the past school year 14 of them finished in the top 10 in the nation, with
the womens swimming and diving team and the mens indoor track team capturing national championships.
genius
