NYU Football: Division 1, 2 , or 3??

One of the goals of this site is to figure out what exactly an NYU Football team would be like. I may have gotten ahead of myself on the uniforms... but I haven't forgotten that there are other things that need to come first.

The biggest thing may be deciding the type of program NYU will be. Are we shooting to one day play against the big boys of Florida and Oklahoma in Division 1? Do we rumble with the Michigan-slaying division 1A powerhouse Appalachian St.?

Or do we step down to Division II, and tangle with the likes of Minnesota Duluth and Grand Valley State?

Or are our aspirations a bit lower: Division III.

Other city schools with established programs are a mixed bunch. Fordham and Columbia are Division I-AA, while Pace University plays in Division II. My immediate thought is: if those bastards at Fordham and Columbia can tackle Division 1A, so can we.

But undoubtedly the decision will probably come down to two factors: Money and Money. Basically, how much money will a program at the different levels cost, and how much will they earn?

A New York Times article from 2006 makes a Division III team sound awfully good:

Football is popular among small colleges because the start-up costs for a nonscholarship program are less than $1 million, and that money can usually be raised from alumni. The annual football budget is subsidized by increased tuition revenue...

Officials at small colleges say that adding football raises campus morale and alumni contributions and gives an institution exposure in local or statewide media

A football program at NYU for less than $1 million?? Assuming the Times did its fact checking, that bodes well for an NYU team. While a college like Charlotte may be laying out $45 million, they're aspiring to be a Division 1 program. If we set our sights a bit lower for the immediate future, it seems a team is more than possible-- it's probable.

You can familiarize yourself with the potential competition here: d3football.com. Mount Union better watch out.

Of course, if we want to return to the glory days of NYU as a college football powerhouse, the climb is a bit steeper. The feasibility study commissioned by the University of North Carolina-Charlotte estimated a D1-AA football program at their school would cost $5.9 million each year to operate. Adding it would also require, under Title IX requirements, an additional $3 million for added women's sports. That's not including the 45 million they deemed necessary for a stadium.

That sounds like a lot, but with a student body of more than 50,000 students, the yearly expenses could be nearly covered by raising tuition a mere $100. NYUers are already paying around $50,000... what's a hundred more?

And we wouldn't necessarily have to spend the money to build a stadium on Governor's Island (although that's a great idea). It just so happens a new stadium is being built right now, less than a half-hour away from NYU.

Sure, two pro teams already are slotted to play there... but couldn't a fledgling program share the facilities one day a week?

What do you guys think? What division can you see the Bobcats playing in?