I think I may have figured out Maturi's rationale. Feel free to think about my assumptions and correct me if I'm wrong. (Shouldn't be hard to find volunteers on this board).
In any given year, with the BTN contract and bowl affiliations, isn't the majority of the money that the football program can generate somewhat static? If the Gophers go to the Rose Bowl or the Insight bowl that money is divided evenly, correct? So in the grand scheme of things, from an income point of view, it doesn't really matter where any team finishes within the Big 10, the same payout for all the bowl games will be split between all the teams.
The only variable that I see is the money generated at the Stadium, etc. Although I have no idea what portion that represents, e.g. a full stadium every game, ad infinitum, with it's associated food and merchandise sales vs. a crowd of 75% or 50% capacity.
So the question is, and take this only from an income perspective: What is Maturi's motivation to better the team? You would hope that the best product is on the field for pride, press, and everything else that comes with a successful program, but if his true intention is to have as many U teams solvent as long as possible, I don't see the motivation, from strictly a dollars and cents perspective.