Arizona Wildcats Have A $240 Million Deficit Due To Financial Modeling ‘Mistake,’ Could Mean Cutting Teams

The Arizona Wildcats athletic department is in serious financial trouble. And it's all thanks to some unbelievably incompetent financial modeling.

University of Arizona President Robert Robbins and senior vice president and chief financial officer Lisa Rulney recently explained to the Arizona Board of Regents that the university is in "financial crisis."

How did this happen?

Because of significant miscalculations in the university's financial modeling. Essentially, Arizona's modeling of their revenue and expenses was off. By $240 million. That's not a misprint. $240 million.

Literally nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. How in the world do you get your modeling that wrong?

Unsurprisingly, there could be significant consequences with regards to the athletic department and some of the 23 Wildcats varsity teams. “Everything’s on the table in terms of dealing with athletics,” Robbins said, according to Tucson.com. “This is an issue that is going to require a lot of tough decisions.”

Oof.

TUCSON, AZ - NOVEMBER 05: Arizona Wildcats logo on a flag during a college women's basketball game between the North Dakota Fighting Hawks and the Arizona Wildcats on November 5, 2019, at McKale Center in Tucson, AZ. (Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Arizona Wildcats Could Be Cutting Teams Sooner Rather Than Later

A $240 million shortfall is remarkable, and the amount of financial incompetence required to make a mistake of that level is mind boggling.

“Clearly this is a major problem. I obviously take it very seriously,” Robbins told Tucson.com. No kidding.

“I did know we were spending money, but I thought we had reserves to spend money on,” he said. “But this is a big miscalculation.”

“How can it be that you were not in the know for such a long time?” said one UA engineering professor. “Your subordinate officers have an obligation to inform you, not on a monthly or quarterly basis, they have an obligation to inform you literally on a daily if not hourly basis if things like this transpire.”

The annual budget of the entire athletic department is $100 million, which means making up the massive gap could lead to several teams being cut. And when cuts have to be made in athletic departments, that means mens programs are often the first to go, thanks to Title IX regulations.

It's not unusual for athletic departments to face financial issues. But the scale of this "mistake" is nearly unprecedented. Even joining the Big 12, with the increased financial disbursements, it's going to take a long, long time to make that deficit up.

At this point, it's not clear which programs will be cut, but given the scale of the problem, it could be some relatively big ones. Absolutely crazy.