Jeff Choke said:
I hope Bob's Titt keeps ignoring Montana players
This was embarrassing to see. All across Montana, viewers saw that one school pays special attention to Montana players; the other doesn't. And the game outcome confirms a stereotype that Montana kids play harder.
But, it's worse than that. Years ago, I remember someone in either the Athletic Department or the HHP Dept mentioning a study that showed a synergistic effect from recruiting in-state athletes. That for every athlete recruited, there would be a corollary increase in enrollments from the athlete's school; that his peer group would have a tendency to follow one of their peers to the University of their choice, and that in turn, in subsequent years there would be a continuing increase in enrollments from those schools, from extended peer groups, younger brothers and sisters and so forth, and that this effect was greater in smaller schools than in larger ones.
I no longer remember the details, and as that was long before the Internet, can't find a reference to it. However, looking through some known examples, I can see how an athlete recruit could bring 4-5 additional kids with him; and that this effect would continue through subsequent graduation years and could shift whole graduating classes to particular colleges; that the ultimate result, over time, could be as many as 25-40 additional student registrations for each recruited student athlete.
Recruiting Montana kids has extended benefits for the University. Bozeman College exploits those benefits. The University of Montana obviously does not, and its not because it has made a better team for UM.
