Where Illinois Ranks Among the Most Valuable College Hoops Programs

Say what you will about the AP poll or NCAA Tournament results, but by at least one measure Illinois' men's basketball program ranks firmly among the nation's top 10.

On Tuesday, hours after Florida knocked off Houston 65-63 in the NCAA National Championship Game, neither team showed up in a Wall Street Journal article relaying an expert analysis of the most valuable programs in college basketball. But take a look at which teams did:

The Top 10 Most Valuable Teams in College Basketball!

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North Carolina and Duke taking the No. 1 and No. 2 spots should come as a shock to no one, but the rest of the list – including Illinois at No. 8 – holds some potential surprises.

Even Illini fans with the rosiest of rose-colored glasses would likely have trouble arguing the case for Illinois, which finished last season outside the AP's Top 25 and was stopped in the Round of 32 by Kentucky – a program that, by the way, checks in one spot below Illinois.

But the analysis, conducted by Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, wasn't an eye test, a projection or even necessarily related to on-court performance. Brewer's data measured enterprise value – which included "revenues and cash flows while making financial projections about the team's sustainability." Essentially, it's a calculation of what something would cost to acquire.

Since that isn't really a thing in college athletics – not yet, at least – Brewer's analysis is probably the closest we'll get to proof regarding program "value."

If your initial reaction is to wonder why the "value" of Illinois men's basketball doesn't translate to more top-10 finishes on the court, it's a fair question.

First, consider that Brewer's list is current but fluid – not remotely fixed. That aside, who knows what, or how many, other factors could be at play? COVID aftershocks? NIL chaos? Year-to-year randomness? Again, neither of this year's championship game participants – Florida and Houston – sniffed the top 10. And then there's North Carolina. That crew had no business even making an appearance in this year's NCAA Tournament, yet Brewer values the program higher than any other.

And at the risk of oversimplifying, let's face it: Money isn't everything. The dollars coming into universities through various athletics programs may be quite real, but whether it's a college basketball team, Hollywood or any other enterprise, "value" often has nothing to do with the quality of the finished product.

Where Illinois Ranks Among the Most Valuable College Hoops Programs

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