When Losing is Winning

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported this week that a win over Utah today would be financial disaster for the Aztecs.
The reason? It would knock the Utes out of BCS bowl contention. It also means that the Aztecs’ share of the BCS money ‘ about $500,000 ‘ that goes to conference members would be gone.
Naturally, no self respecting coach, player or athletic official is going to say he wants to lose. He’ll say you play to win. But it’s a material world. Programs like San Diego State (1-9) struggle financially every year. With the drop in the economy, odds of increasing ticket sales and sponsors next year are slim.
So $500,000 counts. A lot.
What do you think? Is it worth taking a dive for a badly needed $500,000?
Either way — losing the big paycheck or losing your self respect — could make it hard to sleep at night.