Stephens: CSU thrives by focusing money on recruiting

Relative to the Mountain West, CSU doesn't spend much on athletics.

What it does spend is paying off by helping Colorado State University land high-value prospects across men's and women's sports programs.

USA TODAY Sports will release a new database Tuesday showing how much money college athletic programs have spent on recruiting during the past five years, with a focus on football. Some of the numbers will likely shock you, and perhaps new CSU football coach Mike Bobo, too, when it's unveiled that Georgia has spent an average of $626,139 on recruiting per year since the 2010 signing class, while the Rams have averaged $295,771.

The nearly $300,000 per football signing class CSU has spent looks like chump change to Power 5 conferences, but for the Mountain West, it's a lot. Only UNLV (five-year average of $296,008) and Air Force ($405,181) spend more.

And still, compared to what the rest of the league is spending overall on athletics, CSU is slowly creating a multi-sport power without breaking the bank thanks to focusing larger chunks of one of the Mountain West's smallest budgets on recruiting.

Fair warning: You're about to be showered in data.

From 2009-13, CSU spent a total of $141.9 million on athletics (No. 7 of 11 in MW). In the same span, $3.08 million of that was spent on recruiting (2.2 percent of total expenses, second-most behind Air Force) across all sports. Keep in mind, 2009 recruiting expenses are for the 2010 signing class, 2010's for the class of 2011, etc.

Outspending peers on what they pay for lodging, transportation, meals, phone calls and postage for contact with potential student-athletes hasn't been frivolous for the Rams. They're one of four athletic departments in the conference to win at least 300 games in the league's four major sports (football, volleyball and men's and woman's basketball) during the period data was collected, which includes the current basketball seasons.

Since 2010, CSU has 336 wins in the major sports at a cost of $9,156 each (if you were to divide the school's total recruiting expenses across all sports by victories) and a Mountain West-best six conference titles. The only school in the conference with more wins is San Diego State with 342 and four championships ($7,165 per victory). That's athletic success.

Five volleyball championships, one in women's basketball, a second-place finish in men's hoops with two NCAA tournaments, and a pair of football bowl berths highlight this era at CSU of (legally) concentrating money on who college athletics are supposed to be about, the student-athletes. While the biggest recruiting expenses come from the major sports, we'd be remiss to ignore track and field and cross-country constantly sending athletes to the NCAA prelims and championships, along with what Jen Fisher has created on the softball diamond.

And not all Mountain West schools are seeing the same bang for their buck in recruiting costs. With recruiting expenses exceeding $5.7 million over the past five years, Air Force has won only 161 major sporting events, though it should be noted the Falcons have 27 sports to recruit for (CSU has 14). Football alone has cost UNLV $98,669 for each of its 15 wins since 2010. New Mexico hasn't done much better in recruiting dollars spent per football victory ($96,924).

CSU's ranking in the bottom half of the Mountain West for total athletics spending will obviously change soon with the construction of a $220 million on-campus stadium in the next couple of years, solidifying the school as a rising Mountain West power. In the meantime, it's refreshing to see how much money the Rams have allocated to recruiting.

For insight and analysis on athletics around Northern Colorado and the Mountain West, follow sports columnist Matt L. Stephens at twitter.com/mattstephens and facebook.com/stephensreporting.

MW spending since 2009

School Recruiting Expenses Total Expenses Air Force $2.03M $192.1M Boise State $1.85M $190.6M CSU $3.08M $141.9 M Fresno State $1.67M $147.4M Nevada $1.76M $120.6M New Mexico $3.04M $206.5M San Diego State $2.45M $185.6M San Jose State $1.60M $106.2M UNLV $3.99M $278.3M Utah State $2.2M 102.7M Wyoming $2.69M $141.1M

According to USA TODAY

CSU football spending since 2009

Total Recruiting Avg. Recruiting Recruiting cost per win Total Expenses $1.48 M $295,771 $52,816 $49.47M

According to USA TODAY