During the Virginia vs. Ohio State basketball game on Valentine’s Day, the FOX basketball announcer Gus Johnson dropped a blunt assessment of both programs’ financial priorities on national television. The Ohio alum basically said the reason Buckeyes Basketball is falling and losing to Wolverines and others is because of head coach Ryan Day.

Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson were on the mic for FOX Sports. Jackson is former Ohio State All-American basketball player with an illustrious NBA career. While calling the action at Bridgestone Arena in the first half, Johnson quipped that the difference between the two schools was simple:

“The difference between UVA and Ohio State is that… UVA paid for (their players). Ohio State, they’ve given all their money to Ryan Day.”

The comment instantly went viral as a meta-commentary on the modern era of college sports spending. To understand Gus’s point, you have to look at the massive paycheck for Ohio State’s football coach. Ryan Day signed a hefty seven-year contract extension worth $12.5 million annually last off-season. Ohio State also operates the biggest sports budget in the country.

They are spending roughly $35 million to $40 million on its football roster alone. If we take a look at their payout distribution model, they follow 80% for football and 18% for basketball from the direct revenue fund. While the school also pays out $18 million in direct revenue sharing to athletes, about $15 million of that goes straight to football. That leaves the basketball team with a much smaller “allowance” of roughly $3 million from the school. To stay competitive, the basketball team has to rely on outside donors to scrape together another $4 million to $5 million for their players.

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Jackson further explained it in his own words. “And that’s the challenge you have with a lot of football schools, is the distribution of cash,” he said. “Now, how many times do you go to the same donors is a question as well? But this is an evolving scenario for all these schools, especially a school like Ohio State. If you want to compete, you’ve got to pay nowadays.”

Meanwhile, Virginia takes a slightly different approach by playing the “pay-to-play” game very aggressively with its basketball program. Thanks to a “jolt” of funding from major private investors, the Cavaliers reportedly promised $20 million in NIL contracts for their 2025-26 roster.

On top of that, UVA is paying out the maximum allowed $20.5 million in direct revenue sharing across its athletic department. By focusing so much of their donor money specifically on hoops, Virginia has been able to outspend many traditional basketball powerhouses to build a much stronger team. Johnson’s joke suggested that by backing up the truck for the football staff, the Buckeyes might be leaving their basketball team with a smaller slice of the NIL pie.

Gus Johnson plans to put in an inquiry about not prioritizing basketball with Ohio State highs

Gus even went as far planning to reach out OSU president to do better allocation and distribution of funds.

“I’m going to have to call (OSU) president (Walter) Carter and ask him if he can show some love and pocketbook to Buckeyes basketball,” Johnson said.

The game itself was a nail-biter from the get-go in a 70-66 victory for the Cavaliers. Virginia’s Malik Thomas and Sam Lewis led the Cavaliers with 13 points each. However, Ohio State’s Bruce Thornton put up some 28 points while also recording his 500th career assist. Despite the Buckeyes leading by 6 with under 10 minutes to go, Virginia’s depth and late-game execution proved too much for Buckeyes to handle. That allowed them to extend their winning streak to six games.

When “one of your own” calls you out for being cheap or having your priorities messed up, it stings a little more. It sparked a massive debate on social media about whether big-time football schools are accidentally “killing” their basketball programs by dumping every cent into the football stadium.

In the end, the game kind of proved Gus right. Virginia walked away with the win, and Ohio State fans were left wondering if they’d ever see their basketball team reach the same elite level as their football team.