Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, March 3, 2015

Much has been written about the stipend that will be granted by ?Power Five? conference schools beginning in 2015-16 as part of radical NCAA reforms. David Jones of Pennlive.com put together an interesting story and graphic on the subject.

Now, student-athletes will not just receive tuition, books and room-and-board but also an extra amount to be used toward incidental living expenses-Little Caesar?s crazy bread, gas for the Vespa, iTunes downloads, ?Cracked? magazine subscriptions ? stuff like that. It is known in university parlance as "cost of attendance." Me? I like to call it ?kicking around cash,? or "Friday night loot."

Big Ten Stipends
School In-state Out-state Stipend
1. Penn State $34,506 $47,456 $4,788
2. Wisconsin $24,475 $40,725 $4,265
3. Nebraska $22,625 $36,545 $3,544
4. Indiana $24,417 $47,270 $3,036
5. Maryland $24,214 $44,507 $3,024
6. Rutgers $29,875 $44,653 $2,763
7. Illinois $29,568 $44,194 $2,500
8. Ohio State $23,589 $40,089 $2,454
9. Northwestern $65,844 $65,844 $2,326
10. Minnesota $25,740 $32,990 $2,194
11. Iowa $20,861 $40,191 $2,128
12. Michigan $26,834 $55,254 $2,054
13. Purdue $23,322 $42,124 $1,920
14. Michigan State $25,286 $47,051 $1,872

Based on cost-of-attendance figures cited by CollegeData.com for the 2014-15 academic calendar, the table above is a look at the miscellaneous expenses for each Big Ten school, in addition to in-state and out-of-state tuitions for each institution.

I?m sure you?re thinking what I am thinking. You know, like: How can the ?cost of attendance? figures vary so widely between some of these schools? Here is a for instance: How can Indiana have a miscellaneous expense of $3,036 and Purdue have one of $1,920? Is living in Bloomington that much more expensive than West Lafayette? Really? What am I missing? Is there price-fixing on Red Bull and NOS in Monroe County?

Also know this: Schools with a higher ?cost of attendance? figure to use it as a recruiting tool. Heck, Jones of Pennlive.com says Penn State coach James Franklin is on record recently as saying the stipend is definitely a recruiting factor. (Man, I love Franklin.) So, will coaches at schools with a low stipend lobby their athletic directors to increase it?

You betcha, is my guess. Urban Meyer probably is knocking on Gene Smith's door as I type this.

I can?t imagine Michigan?s Jim Harbaugh and Michigan State?s Mark Dantonio would be too stoked if the stipend at their schools was at the above figures in 2015-16. By July, schools must designate what their allowance will be. I have a feeling you?ll see the ?big boys? have cost-of-living allowances near the top of the Big Ten when it?s all said and done. You just wonder how big this stipend will grow to-and how wide the chasm will be among schools.

Welcome to the new world of college athletics.

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About Tom Dienhart BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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