When the University of Wisconsin athletic department started to set its 2008-09 budget about this time a year ago, officials knew they would have to adjust for the normal inflationary increases.
But they didn’t know the price of oil would skyrocket, sending travel costs upward with it.
That means UW teams are operating under budgets that didn’t take into account higher airline prices, including eye-opening cost increases for charter flights. But the message has been clear: Squeeze existing resources as best you can, because the budget is firm.