“The average amount distributed to each school was $11.1 million.”

Another year, another record payday for the members of the Southeastern Conference.

… The Southeastern Conference will distribute approximately $132.5 million to the 12 league institutions in the revenue sharing plan for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, which ends Aug. 31, 2009, according to league commissioner Mike Slive.

The $132.5 million is the highest total ever distributed in SEC history and represents a 4.0 percent increase from the $127.6 million distributed to the schools in 2007-2008.

That doesn’t include the $11.6 million that individual schools got to retain from bowl revenue.

It’s the breakdown of that $132.5 million that’s most interesting.

Broken down by categories and rounded off, the $132.5 million was derived from $52 million from football television, $25.4 million from bowls, $14.3 million from the SEC Football Championship, $13.6 million from basketball television, $4.1 million from the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament and $23.1 million from NCAA Championships.

By my math, SEC schools pocketed close to $92 million from football and just about $41 million from basketball.  The football TV revenue alone was $10 million more than the total basketball money.

I’ll refrain from the regular season/postseason comments here.  But make sure you look at where the money in each sport was derived.

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Saturday funnies

Here are a couple of chucklers for you this morning.

First, I haven’t commented on Bobby Lowder stepping down as head of Colonial Bank because, quite frankly, I don’t know how much of a difference that makes in his current level of influence at Auburn.

That being said, JCCW’s Jerry links to this Jay Tate blog post that contains one of the funniest understatements I’ve ever seen.

Speaking of Lowder, Tate offers this epitaph.

Sure, he meddled in some stuff. So what?

Indeed.  Jetgate and screwing with the school’s accreditation – no big deals, right?

Makes you wonder what Tate would sound like passing judgment on Bernie Madoff (Sure, he swindled some people.  So what?) or Rod Blagojevich (Sure, he prostituted his public office.  So what?)

Speaking of public office, the Los Angeles Times’ Chris Dufresne has done us all a service by assembling some choice quotes from Rep. Joe Barton’s recent grandstanding hearings on the BCS (h/t The Wiz).  Call it Joe’s Greatest Hits.  This exchange is my favorite:

… Swofford on the extra game: “What that did was actually open up access.”

Barton to panel: “Open up access?…Does that make sense what he just said?”

Boise State Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier: “Mr. Chairman, yes it does. It did provide more access.”

As I like to say, my friends, America is a great country.  Where else can clueless people find the rich opportunities we generously offer them?