Southern Illinois University Carbondale leads the Missouri Valley Conference in what it spends on athletics.
The Memphis Business Journal has compiled a list of all Division-1 programs based on Equality in Athletics data from the U-S Department of Education for the 2010-2011 school year. During that time, SIU Carbondale topped M-V-C spending at $20.5-million; followed by Wichita State at $18.2-million and Illinois State at $16.6-million. At the bottom of athletic spending in the Missouri Valley Conference was the University of Evansville at $9.7-million.
When comparing spending on Men's basketball, SIUC ranked 6th in the conference at slightly more than $2 million dollars. That's roughly the same amount spent on men's basketball by Drake, Evansville, and Northern Iowa. Creighton lead the MVC at $4.7-million, followed by Wichita State at $3.7-million.
In comparison, Murray State University leads the Ohio Valley Conference in what it annually spends on Division-1 athletics at $13-million. SIU Edwardsville is at the bottom of the O-V-C list at $7.3-million.