@Teddy Pounderass: The thing is, the Sprint Center in Kansas City is turning a profit without having to give a (probable) sweetheart deal to a longterm tenant. As far as the owners are concerned, there isn't much of an incentive to court the Hornets.
Depending on the school and what kind of funding's available, English doctoral programs can be paid for through fellowships and grants, so in many cases you won't be paying student loans the rest of your life. Across the board the competition's not nearly what it is for something like law school. It also helps if you have some idea of what kind of work you want to do, what you want to publish etc.