The University of Arizona leadership faces tough decisions in the months ahead.

Confronted with a $177 million budget shortfall, originally discovered last November, officials are scrambling to cut costs and boost revenue without harming the university’s investments in academics that faculty and students have fiercely defended.

One big-ticket item officials say they will target is the university’s athletic department, which interim Chief Financial Officer John Arnold said will need a complete overhaul to bring it into the ‘modern athletics market.’

So far, the university has announced ticket price increases for the 2024-2025 season as it looks to decide what the transformation will look like.

‘We need to reset their budget and install hard budget caps,’ Arnold said.

The Arizona Board of Regents, the body overseeing the state’s public universities, will bring on an external firm to help restructure the department. The firm, which the board is in negotiations with but has yet to name, will aid in streamlining athletic administration ‘from the ground up.’

The struggles the university faces aren’t unique. University president Robert Robbins has said he rarely sees college athletic departments turning a large profit. That’s part of a larger trend, University of Pennsylvania professor Karen Weaver said. Weaver studies the crossover between athletics and higher education.

‘The staffs have grown so large,’ Weaver said. ‘The salaries have grown so big.’

How did the athletics budget change over time?

Arnold said Arizona’s athletics revenue has remained largely stagnant for the last five to six years. Meanwhile, the school invested more in student-athletes amid changes to NCAA regulations.

He said funding went toward things like additional merit-based scholarships, equipment and food. 

In fiscal year 2023, the university overspent its athletics budget by $32 million. In comparison, it overspent about $61 million on all of its academic units combined. Given the rising costs associated with collegiate sports, Arnold said there will need to be a shift in how people think about athletics funding.

‘It’s just unrealistic to think that athletics moving forward can be a stand-alone, self-funded unit,’ Arnold said. ‘In the modern athletics market, that’s just not possible.’

Arnold emphasized the school’s commitment to student-athletes, saying much of the changes will happen on the administrative side.

The transformation comes as the school prepares to transition into the Big 12 Conference, which could bring additional pressure. While the school is expected to make more through media rights, the shift could add more travel costs for the program when competing against far-away rivals like Cincinnati or West Virginia.

Would it be as easy as cutting certain sports?

In recent faculty senate meetings, some professors have questioned whether the university should keep each of its 23 varsity sports teams. Former athletics director Dave Heeke assured last month there were no immediate plans to cut teams.

Heeke left the program a little more than a week after updating the public on the state of athletics at Arizona.

University spokesperson Pam Scott said the school did not have an update on its athletics budget as of Thursday, but officials will need to act quickly to implement a new budget model by Jan. 1 of next year.

Weaver said balancing a budget isn’t as simple as cutting certain programs. She pointed to proposed slashes at Stanford that eventually had to be walked back after widespread backlash.

After a major loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford planned to cut 11 programs — many of which had produced Olympic athletes. After the school was hit with multiple lawsuits, officials reversed the decision and kept each of the teams.

Cutting sports teams, even smaller programs, always includes the risk of reputational damage or the loss of alumni donations, Weaver said. 

‘So they really have to be very strategic about looking at the bottom line,’ Weaver said.

In addition, schools need to ensure they follow Title IX rules, which require them to provide equal opportunities for both male and female athletes.

What other changes could be made?

Cost-cutting doesn’t have to mean the loss of teams. Simple cuts could come from administrative streamlining in addition to caps on travel spending or professional development costs. The department has announced it will pause all major construction projects following the completion of building the William M. ‘Bill’ Clements Golf Center.

The university also looks to increase revenue brought in from athletics, which will begin with 2024-25 ticket price hikes for football and basketball. Arnold also has referenced possible rises in concession prices.

Weaver said collegiate programs may start to take inspiration from other schools to make more money. Some programs have added higher-priced tickets with special commodities. She cited Penn State University’s ‘Tunnel Club,’ where fans can pay a $10,000 membership fee to get access to a suite next to the stadium’s tunnel. A glass window allows fans to see the football team as it enters the stadium. 

Weaver said inspiration could come from a variety of places if the school wants to explore new options.

‘So looking in Phoenix or Tucson, what kinds of changes are coming to professional facilities that they might be able to take advantage of on college facilities?’ Weaver said.

Looking at the big picture, Weaver understands concerns about how much money athletics departments at universities across the country spend. Still, she said sports remain a critical part of schools’ reputations. 

‘If Arizona wants to be a top institution, a land grant that’s well-recognized and competitive with their peers in every aspect, this is part of it,’ Weaver said.

Helen Rummel covers higher education for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at hrummel@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @helenrummel.

LAS VEGAS – If the main character of the NFL this year was Travis Kelce, then the script writers saved his most dramatic episode for the 2023 season finale. 

Kelce’s Super Bowl story arc was dramatic enough to be an appropriate coda of the 21-game soap opera that was the Kansas City Chiefs’ season. He entered with high expectations. Faced adversity. There was redemption and triumph. It was punctuated by an Elvis Presley impersonation, fitting for the first Super Bowl in Las Vegas. 

“Vivaaaaaaaaaaaa, Vivaaaaaaaa, Las Vegasssssssssssssss!!” a hoarse Kelce, Lombardi Trophy in hand, scream-sang into the microphone as CBS’ Jim Nantz interviewed him on stage. 

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58 in overtime Sunday, 25-22, claiming their third title in five years and second in a row. As is the wont of a leading man, Kelce played a pivotal role. But his first half was meager – almost a blank space. 

He had one catch for one yard. He finished with nine catches for 93 yards and led all receivers in both categories.

SUPER BOWL CENTRAL: Latest Super Bowl 58 news, stats, odds, matchups and more.

“I didn’t care about my catches,” Kelce said of the game’s first 30 minutes. “I just wanted the score to be different.”

Kansas City trailed 10-3 entering halftime. As for what changed for Kelce between the two halves, the tight end flexed his comedic chops, saying he stopped “playing like a jabroni, man.” 

The drama came when Kelce bumped into Chiefs head coach Andy Reid on the sideline in the second quarter and nearly knocked over “Big Red.’ Teammates pulled him away. A couple of plays earlier, Kelce appeared frustrated that quarterback Patrick Mahomes did not throw him the ball when he was wide open (the pass was completed for a 52-yard gain to Mecole Hardman, regardless). By night’s end, they were hugging as confetti fell on their shoulders. 

“I was just telling him how much I love him,” Kelce, not wanting to go there, said of the dust-up. 

“He caught me off-balance. He cheap-shotted me,” said Reid, leaning on his dry humor to address the awkward situation. “But that’s all right; he did good.” 

All Kelce wanted to get across to his coach, Reid said, was that if he was in the game, he’d score. And Kelce credited Reid for being the type of mentor who has taught him how to channel his emotions. 

“He’s one of the best leaders of men I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Kelce, who added that Reid is “the greatest coach this game has ever seen … I owe my entire career to that guy.”

Reid actually asked Kelce – along with Mahomes and defensive tackle Chris Jones – to address the Chiefs on Saturday night at the team’s final pre-Super Bowl meeting. According to those in the room, the message Kelce relayed was “powerful.”  

“You just felt the energy, the passion,” Kansas City safety Justin Reid said. “He just talked about just us being us, man. It didn’t matter what anyone else said. It didn’t matter what the commentators or analysts or professionals or anyone else said, positive or negative. It’s about us. It’s not about making excuses; it’s about going out there and playing dominant. And you felt that.” 

The message, Kelce said, was to show how much he cared about his teammates and coaches and that they had the “formula” to be champions. 

“They’re leaders and they stick together,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said in the locker room about Andy Reid and Kelce. “I don’t think many people thought we were going to be standing here (as) Super Bowl champions on Christmas Day, and we are because we have good people that care.” 

On the Chiefs’ first drive of the game, Kelce caught a short pass to the left that went for a yard. He did not record another catch until the 12:26 mark of the third quarter. That left him fired up at halftime, and Kelce once again brought the heat for his teammates. 

“Just being accountable for the guys around me, being accountable for Coach Reid,” Kelce said. 

Mahomes, who threw an interception on the third play of the second half, looked Kelce’s way to open the Chiefs’ next drive for an 11-yard gain.

Kelce was involved on each of the Chiefs’ final six drives. But the biggest play came with 16 seconds left in regulation and Kansas City trailing 16-13. Facing a third-and-7 from the San Francisco 33-yard line, Kelce cut across the middle, Mahomes hit him in stride, and Kelce nearly turned the corner for a game-winning touchdown but was pushed out of bounds at the Niners’ 11-yard line with 10 seconds left. 

Kelce said he asked Reid to “put it on” his shoulders with the game in the balance.

“I live for moments like that and I love Big Red for giving me those opportunities,” the 34-year-old said. “It’s a beautiful thing, man, when everything comes together.” 

In the Chiefs’ locker room, not long after he embraced Taylor Swift on the field, it was Kelce who gathered the majority of his teammates as music blared from speakers and cigar smoke wafted. 

Kelce called out for tight ends coach Tom Melvin. A bottle of champagne was walked to the center of the room, where a circle formed around Kelce. Still feeling lyrical, Kelce began belting out Queen’s “We Are The Champions.” His teammates sang, too. The champagne sprayed toward the ceiling and down onto the Lombardi. 

“Unreal,” said Chiefs passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier, “just unreal.”

The Chiefs, as defending champions, had targets on their backs all season. There was a brutal 2-4 stretch in November and December. Kelce missed the first game of the season against the Detroit Lions due to a knee injury he suffered at the end of training camp. Since September, his romance with Swift has sparked vitriol in some corners of society, mostly online. 

“To have the doubters, to have the road that we went through, man, it meant everything to even get to this point,” Kelce said. “But to find a way through adversity, yet again, for four quarters, five quarters, man, I couldn’t be more proud of the guys, and it’s such an honor to be on this team and in this organization.”

Kelce wasn’t talking about his off-field life when he referenced “doubters” and plowing through “adversity” Sunday. But he might as well have been. 

While leaving his postgame news conference, Kelce was asked whether he will return for another season. 

“Hell yeah,” he said, “I want that three-peat.” 

In a conversation with the Wall Street Journal Magazine earlier this season, Kelce told the outlet he does think about retirement. Hard not to when a second act of entertaining and acting or anything, really, awaits. But as Kelce’s career winds down, his case in the ‘greatest tight end of all time’ conversation will be heard.

Winning will always matter more to Kelce than individual statistics, but “I do love the legacy of wanting to be as great as I possibly can.” 

Kelce knows he has played more football than he will play in the future. 

“I just cherish every single moment,” he said.

Four years ago, Peter Schrager picked the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl before the season started.

Schrager also correctly picked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win Super Bowl LV and the Los Angeles Rams to win Super Bowl LVI before again correctly picking the Chiefs to win it all last year.

The NFL Network personality correctly picked them again this year, marking the fifth consecutive year he’s correctly picked the Super Bowl winner.

‘It’ll be 49ers vs. Chiefs in Vegas,’ Schrager said in September. ‘The winner, with the exact score being 34-28, and with second-year cornerback Trent McDuffie returning a pick-6 late in the fourth quarter, the Kansas City Chiefs will yet again be your Super Bowl champion.’

He may have missed on the score and McDuffie’s interception, but the Chiefs made his winning side prediction come true by beating the San Francisco 49ers in a 25-22 overtime thriller Sunday night in Las Vegas.

SUPER BOWL CENTRAL: Latest Super Bowl 58 news, stats, odds, matchups and more.

‘See everybody next September!’ the ‘Good Morning Football’ contributor said on X after the game.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes turned in another performance for the ages, throwing for 333 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for a team-high 66 yards. The performance earned him his third Super Bowl MVP honor.

With the win, Kansas City became the ninth team to pull off a Super Bowl repeat and the first team to do so in 19 years, ending the longest back-to-back drought in Super Bowl history. The Chiefs also became the seventh franchise in the NFL with at least four Super Bowl victories and the sixth to win three over a five-season span.

The dynasty otherwise known as the Kansas City Chiefs is here.

The Chiefs toppled the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58 on Sunday night in Las Vegas, 25-22, to become the first team in 19 seasons to repeat as Super Bowl champions. They have won three titles in the last half decade. And behind it all are the constants, coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who took home his third career Super Bowl MVP award, becoming only the third player in NFL history to do so.

For the 49ers and coach Kyle Shanahan, it’s yet another heartbreak. There’s plenty of blame to allocate, but one thing the 49ers should take comfort in is that quarterback Brock Purdy shined on the sport’s biggest stage.

Here are the winners and losers from Super Bowl 58.

SUPER BOWL CENTRAL: Latest Super Bowl 58 news, stats, odds, matchups and more.

WINNERS

Legendary Patrick Mahomes

If he hadn’t already made his greatness undeniable, go ahead and crown Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who erased any doubt whatsoever that he’s among the best to have ever done it. His uncanny feel for the game and pocket presence, his taking stock of the open spaces on the field, his dual-threat ability to run and throw any pass demanded of him — this is what has allowed the Chiefs to be the first team to win consecutive Super Bowls in 19 seasons. In each of Kansas City’s three Super Bowl victories, he has brought his team back from deficits of 10 points.

Against the 49ers, Mahomes was in complete control, aside from the errant interception into double coverage. He avoided forcing plays. He surveyed the field and was happy to strafe the 49ers with underneath passes that were available because the Niners dropped into zone. He is Michael Jordan, Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, Serena Williams. The scary part — for the rest of the NFL, at least — is that Mahomes is only 28 and entering his prime.

Let’s expound on Mahomes’ mobility

With San Francisco dictating the line of scrimmage in the first half, Mahomes made a slight tweak to his game to generate some more momentum for Kansas City in the third quarter: he used his legs more. In the first half, he ran the ball just twice for seven yards. In the third quarter alone, he rushed three times for 26 yards, including a 22-yarder on a third down that set up a field goal.

Mahomes actually finished as Kansas City’s leading rusher with 66 yards on nine attempts. When he becomes a threat to rush, he compromises defenses because he’s still a threat to throw the ball down the field, even when on the move. Frankly, it’s a Herculean task to defend.

Kansas City’s ability to work through blowups, penalties and turnovers

This Chiefs team, arguably the least talented in the Reid-Mahomes era (at least on offense), faced trials throughout the regular season. In the first half alone, tight end Travis Kelce blew up at Reid and bumped him on the sideline, star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed committed a completely avoidable unnecessary roughness penalty and running back Isiah Pacheco fumbled in the red zone.

Despite all that, a series of events that would almost certainly cause many teams to implode, the Chiefs course-corrected and returned to their strengths. They rallied behind their leaders like defensive tackle Chris Jones, who gathered the entire defense on the sideline for a meeting. And, most of all, they focused on football. Call it championship mettle, call it whatever you want, but Kansas City’s ability to work through all that set up the prolific second half.

Brock Purdy

He was not the winning quarterback, but Purdy’s play (23-of-38 for 255 yards and a touchdown) should answer any questions San Francisco might have about his ability to win at the highest level. Now, Purdy is a player who certainly needs a certain level of talent around him to thrive. He’s not the type to elevate average receivers like Mahomes is, but he’s more than capable of winning a Super Bowl when in the right system.

In particular, Purdy excelled when facing pressure. He completed 12-of-19 passes for 131 yards and the score when the Chiefs blitzed and he faced blitzes on more than half (51.2%) of his dropbacks. He was measured, played with poise and he took care of the ball. He’s a polarizing player, but whatever you might think of his ability, he has showed he can handle the game’s toughest tests.

Kansas City’s O-line

Though they had been controlled for the majority of the game, Kansas City’s offensive line parried away the 49ers’ pass rushers in second half. Mahomes’ increased mobility certainly helped neutralize the bite of some of the San Francisco pressure, but Kansas City’s front protected Mahomes plenty on Kansas City’s 13-play, 75-yard game-winning drive.

The Chiefs gained 208 of their 455 yards — 45.7% of their entire offensive output — in the fourth quarter and overtime alone. It’s no coincidence that this is the time when the Chiefs’ offensive line took over.

LOSERS

Kyle Shanahan

The reasons for the Niners’ collapse are many, but the person ultimately bearing most of the weight is the head coach. As the offensive play caller, he did orchestrate a decent game at times, but he also had some glaring mistakes. Namely, the 49ers completely ignored star running back and AP Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey in the first three drives of the third quarter.

San Francisco recorded three consecutive three-and-outs to start the second half. Shanahan’s 49ers also struggled on third downs, failing to adjust to the pressures Chiefs coordinator Steve Spagnuolo dialed up. San Francisco converted just three-of-12 (25%) third down attempts. One coming out of the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter and then one on their overtime possession set up field goals when touchdowns were necessary. In all three Super Bowls in which Shanahan has been a head coach or offensive coordinator, his team has held at least a 10-point lead. His teams are 0-3 in those games.

Not to pile on … but: his decision to receive first in OT

This might be splitting hairs, but it still gave the Chiefs an unintended advantage. With the altered overtime rules, both teams had the chance to possess the ball and Shanahan opted to receive first. He said in postgame comments that he wanted the ball if the game got down to a sudden death situation, on the potential third possession of overtime.

The problem: when facing a team like the Chiefs who have a quarterback like Mahomes, allowing that offense to go second essentially gave it the freedom to be in four-down situations for the entire possession. It’s difficult enough to face Mahomes when he has three downs. Giving him one more, when he thrives in stages like the Super Bowl, inadvertently placed an unnecessary burden on his defense, which — by this point — was already gassed. To that point, the 49ers defense had just been on the field prior to the start of overtime. Still, it’s deeply flawed logic to offer that offense — one that had seized all momentum — the chance to score a game-winning touchdown.

Steve Wilks and zone coverage

This is tricky, because, how exactly do you stop a player like Mahomes? San Francisco controlled the line of scrimmage in the first half, rushing Mahomes and hemming him in the pocket.

Once San Francisco’s defense appeared to be battling fatigue late in the game, however, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks relied far too much on zone coverages that had 49ers players lined up too far from the line, leaving a comfortable cushion for Mahomes to exploit. This was most apparent in overtime. Making matters worse, when those defenders dropped back, it often created a vacuum that Mahomes exploited with his rushing. Wilks, overall, called a solid game and losing Dre Greenlaw was a massive blow. Frankly, most of the blame here should be applied to an offense that left points on the field and stalled entirely in the third quarter. But, when the game started to turn late in the fourth, the 49ers could’ve made defensive adjustments in the form of more pressure to slow the avalanche of Mahomes and the Chiefs.

You simply cannot gift points to the Reid-Mahomes Chiefs

Yet, late in the third quarter, that’s exactly what the 49ers did. It’s so demoralizing for a defense to get a stop, especially against a quarterback like Mahomes, only for the special teams unit to botch the punt return. When Tommy Townsend’s punt glanced off the foot of rookie corner Darrell Luter Jr. and ended up in the hands of Chiefs corner Jaylen Watson.

The Chiefs thrive when teams gift them opportunities like this, and, on the following play, Kansas City scored its first touchdown of the Super Bowl. It gave them momentum, too; the Chiefs would go on to score on every possession following the botched return.

LAS VEGAS – Mecole Hardman scored the game-winning touchdown of Super Bowl 58. It took some time before that registered.

On the game’s final play, the fifth-year receiver of the Kansas City Chiefs motioned toward the offensive line before pirouetting back to the right, looking back at quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the snap. The three-time Super Bowl MVP delivered a quick pass to the receiver, Hardman gathering the ball in and heading toward the pylon for a short 3-yard score that will be long remembered as the play that cemented K.C. as the NFL’s newest dynasty.

Not that Hardman realized.

“I knew I was going to get the ball, caught the football, and I blacked out,” said Hardman after the game. “I’m not going to lie, I blacked out. I (saw) Pat running towards me, and I’m thinking, ‘We just won.’ I understand now and after that.

“The rest is history.”

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Hardman can be forgiven for the lapse after a journey that must have seemed like a fever dream.

After spending his first four seasons in Kansas City, he signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets last March. He appeared on “Hard Knocks,” fawning over new teammate Aaron Rodgers and giddy at the prospect of playing with the legendary quarterback. Yet Hardman’s impact with the Jets turned out to be on par with injured Rodgers, the wideout catching one pass in six games before being traded back to the Chiefs in October. Yet even reunited with his former team and an even better QB1, injuries kept Hardman off the field for much of the season.

“This was a roller coaster,” he said. “It was a lot of ups and downs. I was going through a lot, especially with the injury, trying to start over with a new team and didn’t really play. Kansas City welcomed me back with open arms.”

Did they ever.

When healthy, Hardman adds speed to the passing game – an attribute that both makes him a deep threat and opens up room for players like tight end Travis Kelce to operate underneath the coverage. Hardman’s 52-yard catch in the second quarter seemed destined to set up Kansas City’s first touchdown, but a fumble on the next play nullified that opportunity.

Still, it’s not how you start.

“Man, I couldn’t be happier for my guy,” Kelce said of Hardman after the game. “It brought me to tears seeing that he was the man that got us there.

“Mecole, he’s one of my favorite teammates ever, because he just keeps showing up. … Found a way to win the game for us – when everybody counted him out, even the Jets counted him out. Man, we were so excited when we got him back in the building, because he’s the kind of guy that brings everybody together.”

Said Mahomes: “I’ve played with Mecole for a long time. He’s always ready for the moment … and he was he was ready for that moment in a couple (of) big plays.”

Even if Hardman didn’t necessarily process those moments in the moments, he was fully self-aware by night’s end.

“(T)o get here to the Super Bowl, and the end, and got to end how it ended,’ he ended. ‘I don’t think I want it any other way.”

***

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis.