Despite a disappointing five seasons, new Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny decided to keep OU men's basketball coach Porter Moser for at least one more season because Denny didn't believe Moser ever had the resources to succeed while leading the Sooners. Not having enough money to get talent has become the most overused excuse in college sports today, but a recent report surfaced in the nick of time to reveal it wasn't just an excuse for losing from Moser.
If Denny being willing to put the blame on OU's administration and giving Moser another chance wasn't enough to prove Moser was under resourced, Extra Point's Matt Brown on Monday released the operational budget for more than 200 men's basketball programs from the 2024-25 season, and it was a telling discovery for OU fans.
New report reveals where OU's budget ranks in SEC
With a spending of $13.6 million, OU ranked 10th among the included SEC programs, which didn't include Florida and Vanderbilt, both of which likely spent more than the Sooners. That number was also 31st in the country.
It's worth noting that these totals include money spent on coaching salaries, administrative salaries, scholarships, travel, software, recruiting and whatever else was needed for operational expenses, according to Brown. It does not include money for revenue share or NIL to pay student-athletes, which seems to be the Sooners' biggest concern. However, considering it's already been made clear the Sooners lack the funding to bring in big-time talent, this reveals Moser lacks resources just about everywhere else, as well.
These numbers are also from last season, not the current one, but the totals likely are not drastically different for 2025-26, especially for the Sooners.
For comparison, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky and Auburn all spent over $20 million during the year. Ole Miss, Alabama, Missouri and Texas A&M also all spent more than OU. The only programs listed below OU were Mississippi State, LSU, South Carolina and Georgia.
Read more: Roger Denny makes it clear Porter Moser is not to blame for OU basketball's failures
Why is this important and correlate with Moser winning games? These numbers almost mirror last year's SEC standings. Considering Florida was likely near the top, Mississippi State and Georgia were the only programs that spent less than OU last season and still finished ahead of the Sooners in SEC standings. Texas was the only program that spent more than the Sooners and finished below them.
These numbers matter, and Denny has made that clear. In order for the Sooners to be near the top of college basketball, the spending must also be up there.
On the same day these numbers were reported, Denny was on Dari Nowkhah's show on KREF radio and revealed some more embarrassing financial numbers for OU athletics while vowing to fix them after just replacing Joe Castiglione last month.
"Now more than ever, the correlation between the resources that you put into a program, which now includes the amount of NIL opportunities that your student-athletes have, is higher than ever with program success," Denny said.
Denny words and these numbers prove Moser had a valid excuse the past five seasons, even if it's fair to argue he still underachieved based on resources with just one NCAA Tournament appearance during that time. However, this means if Denny delivers on his promise, next season, Moser will be out of excuses.