Money changes things.

With growing distributions from a lucrative SEC TV contract -- up $7.1 million in two years - the University of South Carolina covered $3 million in coaches raises, paid for some extra repair work, bolstered the school's rainy-day account and perhaps gave beleaguered basketball coach Darrin Horn more time to turn around his program.

"You can afford to hope for a Coach K," said Charles Clotfelter, author of "Big Time Sports in American Universities," referring to Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, whom fans criticized early in his career before he would win four national titles.

South Carolina's football and men's basketball teams -- the only programs that make money -- receive a share of the SEC television contract, as well as the league's bowl and tournament winnings.

Those distributions have risen from $8.5 million in 2005 to $19.9 million last year, according to reports the school supplies to the U.S Department of Education. Much of the increase comes from USC's share of the conference's $3 billion, 15-year TV contract that started in 2009.

The money helps the USC athletics department operate at a profit even during the country's worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. South Carolina made $900,000 in 2010-11, down from $3.3 million in 2007-08 -- the first year athletics director Eric Hyman turned around the department's annual deficit.

Fans benefit too. USC did not raise football ticket prices, seat fees or Gamecock Club dues this year. Individual-game tickets for the two-time national champion baseball team did increase by $2 this season to $10 and $12.

While $19.4 million raised from annual seat fees for football season tickets helped finance $200 million in new buildings and repairs over the past five years, the conference distributions have allowed for some additional work, Hyman said.

"We had to move quickly," Hyman said of the projects that included new baseball and softball stadiums, tennis center, academic center, administration building and gameday parking lot at the former State Farmers Market. "We didn't have a lot of choice if we wanted to compete in this league."

The SEC windfall also has allowed the department to bolster its rainy-day reserves from $3.3 million in 2006 to $12 million this year. USC has an extra cushion in case of damage from a natural disaster or if ticket sales fall from poor seasons.

"It allows the coaches to protect them from themselves," Hyman said.

That could be said for USC basketball program. Horn, now in his fourth year, is looking to avoid his third-straight losing season.

Attendance at Colonial Life Arena is down 24 percent since Horn won a share of the SEC Eastern Division in his first season at South Carolina in 2008-09. Ticket sales fell by more than $400,000 to $1.5 million over his first three full seasons, according to USC data.

But distributions from the SEC are more than enough to cover the expenses of the men's basketball team -- so on paper the program is a money-maker before the first ticket is sold. The team cleared $1.3 million over the past two seasons just with the money from the league TV contracts and tournaments.

Hyman declined last week to link that as the reason why Horn continues to receive administration support amid growing restlessness among fans who want to see more progress from the team.

Horn said he's trying to build a program and lets the administration handle the finances. Still, the coach noted "there's no question those distributions help the athletic department as a whole."

Hyman said the extra SEC cash aids, for example, the money-losing South Carolina baseball and women's basketball programs.

The baseball team has lost $9.7 million over the past seven seasons, some of which comes from paying for building a new stadium and the $800,000 spent over the past two years to go to Omaha for the College World Series.

The women's basketball team, which appears this year headed to its first NCAA berth since 2003, has lost $16 million in the past seven seasons.

"It allows them to reach their potential," Hyman said of the programs that don't receive proceeds from the SEC television agreements.

And as the conference money continues to pour in, USC has new ways to spent it.

"(Athletics directors) drive home at night thinking, 'How should I spend this extra money?' "Clotfelter said.

With the new TV contract, the athletics department has given $2 million off the top of its SEC distributions to the university's general scholarship fund each of the past three years.

That will drop to $1 million starting next year, giving the department another $1 million to use, but Hyman said, "the coaches have it already gobbled it up."