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Football team's success is priceless to UW-W

WHITEWATER — Football uniforms and equipment: $15,000.

Upgrading Perkins Stadium: $1.2 million.

Four consecutive appearances in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl: Priceless.

"The impacts (on the university) are remarkable," said UW-Whitewater Athletic Director Paul Plinske.

Perhaps the No. 1 perk that comes from the Warhawks playing in the Division III national championship game Saturday is national television coverage.

"It's putting Whitewater on the map," Plinske said.

Not only have local television stations feverishly covered the football team on its run to the Stagg Bowl, but television stations in Oregon and Texas, where UW-Whitewater defeated Willamette University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, respectively, have latched on to the story, too.

"We're covering the entire country with the performances of our football team," Plinske said.

But Saturday is the real deal: three hours-including one uninterrupted minute of promotional footage provided by the university-of face time on ESPN2.

"That's three hours of free promotion on the nation's biggest sports network," Plinske said.

Last year's Stagg Bowl was the highest rated of the Division III championship games with nearly 1.5 million households tuning in to watch UW-Whitewater beat top-ranked Mount Union, 31-21, according to ESPN.

Rising tide

The success of the UW-Whitewater football team is infectious, Plinske said.

"I'm a believer in the idea that a rising ride raises all ships, and the attention that the football team has gotten has risen the level of awareness of all our other athletic teams," he said.

While the football team shines brightest in the national championship spotlight, other UW-Whitewater teams have had great success and gained national prominence, including men's and women's basketball, wheelchair basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball and wrestling.

"There's a great amount of excitement around not only what the football team is doing but what the other athletic teams are doing, too," Plinske said.

Its athletic accomplishments-especially after the Warhawks won the Division III football title last year-have generated increased interest in the university, said Jon Enslin, assistant chancellor for university advancement.

Freshman applications were up more than 10 percent for the second year in a row. While a national football championship isn't the sole reason for the jump, it certainly is a factor, he said.

Alumni contributions, in particular those solicited during the university's fall phone campaign, were up about 20 percent, Enslin said. That money goes toward student scholarships, faculty research and other alumni association activities.

"Among our alumni, we see a much greater sense of pride these days," he said.

Although it's the team's fourth straight year in the Division III spotlight, the hype hasn't died down, Plinske said.

"It's at the same level or more than it's ever been before," he said. "We're definitely seeing a cumulative effect of our success.

"And we wouldn't be there without the campus and community support. We hope people see this game as a reflection of them and their hard work."