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[QUOTE="Cusefan95, post: 228597, member: 173"]
I don't believe emotional appeals of the value to the community are likely to carry the day.  The reputation of the school may be suffering due to the national perception right now, so that may be more of a negative than a positive.  The additional money from the ACC would (probably) more than cover any lost gate receipts - certainly they would be leaving money on the table and it would be one reason not to de-emphasize athletics.

Various studies on booster donations correlated to athletic success show conflicting results.  I would imagine that it's university specific; if you are correct that booster/donor money would decrease substantially it would be a reason not to de-emphasize athletics.  It would certainly be a point to cover in the discussion.

in my mind by far and away the biggest drawback from de-emphasizing athletics is that - for a small private university - there is virtually no going back from that decision.  Once it's been made and implemented, it would be very hard for Syracuse to ever recover.  Possibly in basketball they could substantially recover, but falling too far behind in football means being a perennial basement dweller.  That leads into the other point you made, that the conference affiliations are so fluid right now that Syracuse could easily find themselves on the outside looking in once all the maneuvering is done.  In general nobody wants to make a decision that cuts off almost all options to you to adapt to future conditions...if Syracuse remains committed to a vision of competing for championships in all sports I believe this will be the reason why.
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