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The athletics budget for the University of North Texas is expected to increase to $30.4 million for the upcoming fiscal year, to level the playing field within Conference USA and support a new baseball program, school officials said. During UNT system Board of Regents meetings last week, the board passed an amendment to the system budget to consider adding $2.8 million in revenue and expenditures to the proposed athletics budget of $27.6 million. Talks with the finance committee, UNT President Lane Rawlins and athletic director Rick Villarreal are underway. A completed budget is expected in two weeks, Rawlins said. "Were a lot better than people in the region and state think we are, and one of the reasons we get overlooked is because so much attention is paid to athletics," Rawlins said. "Athletics is how you get attention. ... Its simply a fact of life for an institution of our size and location." The board wanted to learn more about how UNT compared with other institutions in the conference, and some were concerned that athletic programs arent enough of a priority. Rawlins presented figures that show UNT is on par with spending in its new conference, but Board of Regents Finance Committee chairman Don Potts said the university spends less than half of the average on recruiting. "The issue of concern is that were moving into Conference USA and we want UNT to have the same resources that our competitors have, Potts said. We do want to win, you know." Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20130823-unt-athletics-may-get-boost.ece