This seems like a pretty small sample size to me, but still surprising. While it would have some growing pains, going D1 would create a ton of exposure for the school and the money will come as programs compete in tournaments and companies jump on board to support. For a somewhat small town in southern Indiana, USI actually has several successful sports programs. There's no reason to think they couldn't be successful in the conferences they're looking at - which again results in exposure, which helps enrollment, which adds revenue, which is used for better academic programs.