The Big 12 has no shortage of schools going all-in during this cash-fueled era of college athletics.

Texas Tech’s collective, fronted by billionaire Cody Campbell, delivered a No. 1 portal class and multiple future five-star commitments.

BYU locked down the top basketball recruit in the country, AJ Dybansta, at a multi-million-dollar price tag and secured five-star quarterback of the future Ryder Lyons.

Even if it didn’t deliver the expected results, K-State still gave men’s basketball coach Jerome Tang top-10 NIL money to build last year’s roster.

Now, make way for Kansas.

The Jayhawks just landed a nearly unprecedented $300 million donation from billionaire alum David Booth, founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors and worth $2.9 billion.

Kansas plans to use $75 million for continued upgrades to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, with the rest serving as a long-term income stream for the athletic department.

For context: T. Boone Pickens’ $165 million gift to Oklahoma State in 2005 was considered the largest single donation to an NCAA program at the time.

This is massive for Kansas…and potentially for the Big 12 as a whole.

For KU, it means the table stakes are covered to compete at the highest level of college athletics for years to come. The money doesn’t guarantee success or a call-up to the Power Two, but it removes a lot of stress and adds flexibility.

As Twitter GOAT Cyclone Larry reminds us, you still have to spend the money wisely.

Speaking of Iowa State, the Cyclones have outperformed Kansas in football and men’s basketball in the wild west NIL era despite spending far less. But AD Jamie Pollard is feeling the squeeze from looming revenue sharing. He’s been vocal about wanting university subsidies or extra student fees to help cover more than $20 million per year for athlete payments, and he’s far from the only one.

Arizona’s athletic department already leans heavily on university subsidies. Virginia Tech just raised student fees to help fund its program. Even the SEC and Big Ten will feel the hit of adding a $20M+ line item to their budgets.

Kansas won’t have to worry about that for a while.

This gift also eases pressure on other KU donors who may have been stretched thin by the stadium project, a rising football program, and an elite basketball program. That matters even more if the College Sports Commission can’t strictly enforce “fair market value” in third-party NIL deals.

You have to tip your cap to KU AD Travis Goff, who has been sharp, aggressive, and effective during his tenure in Lawrence; the complete antithesis to his predecessor, Jeff Long. 

Goff hired Lance Leipold, pushed through the stadium renovations, and now secured one of the largest donations in NCAA history to double down on it all.

With another Big 12 school bringing billionaire dollars to the table, this is a warning shot to the rest of the league: step your game up.

Competition brings out the best in everyone, and the Big 12 has multiple schools proving they’re willing to do whatever it takes. Could this be a rising tide of cash that lifts all Big 12 boats?

If Big 12 ADs weren’t already working the phones like a Gen Z college student on TikTok, they better be now.

Texas Tech and Kansas aren’t the only schools with billionaire alums. For example, K-State grad and former Celtics minority owner Paul Edgerley is worth billions himself.

It’s a do-or-die moment in college athletics, and Goff just convinced the most important figure he could to go all-in.

Will others follow?

What You Need to Know

• Big 12 ADs have solidified a game management policy that penalizes teams for throwing things onto the field, likely in response to incidents in the SEC last season. After two warnings, 15-yard penalties would ensue.

• What does that mean for Texas Tech’s tradition of throwing tortillas onto the field? Nothing, says Tech AD Kirby Hocutt. 

• The Big 12 is also joining the other power conferences in issuing official injury reports this year. They’ll start three days before each conference game in football. 

• Only one Big 12 team made the Top 25 in ESPN’s SP+ rankings, and they check in at number 18. 

• It was a similar story in Josh Pate’s first “JP Poll,” which also included only one Big 12 team.

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