re: Is F King next on the chopping block?

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King does not comprehend the marketing value afforded to his university by having nationally recognized and relevant sports programs.

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THIS!

This is the one thing that almost nobody gets.

Look at the recent history of Duke. It was a decent school, known as much for partying as academics up until the early 80s and not very expensive. Basketball (also lacrosse and soccer) gave them brand recognition at that time and applications began rising. Rather than accepting more students and growing bigger, they simply took the same number of the very best applicants. Entering standardized testing scores began to rise.

They tailored their programs to these new students, made some strategic investments, and slowly ratcheted up the tuition. After a while, endowments started rolling in, and after a few cycles of this, they are one of the most elite academic schools in the country.

But make no mistake, it all started with sports brand recognition (and some smart people who knew how to take advantage of it).

LSU is a state institution. Their mission will never be to become a Duke, but they could easily become a UGA, UNC, UT Austin, or any of a number of CA flagships, and the positive financial impact to our state being able to attract new businesses alone would be phenomenal.

LSU is the flagship. There are plenty of other institutions that can focus on access. Once you build in this way, endowments from the highly successful graduates you're producing will allow more of the state's financial resources to be used for other things. It's a financial win all the way around.

TLDR: We're not cashing in on our sports brand recognition investments to improve both the quality of life and the financial outlook of our state.