Stanford ranked as one of the most valuable Power 5 schools
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With all the talk of conference realignment stirring back up after the departure of USC and UCLA from the Pac-12, it has many people across the country making the case for their school and why they could be the next to join what appears to be a mega-conference.
There is a battle and a healthy fear among programs across the nation that they will no longer be considered apart of the power conferences, be able to make as much money, or of course have a lesser chance to win championships. While the Pac-12 is considering their viable options, schools like Stanford, Oregon, and Washington among others have been rumored to be connected to other conferences.
With all of this being such a topic of discussion, Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde took the liberty of ranking all 69 Power 5 schools. There were handful of metrics used such as the average ranking for the football team over the past five years, academic ranking, all-sports rankings, football attendance, and lastly broadcast viewership.
The rankings are dominated by the Big Ten and SEC, as counting current and future members they hold 13 of the top 14 spots. There are two current Pac-12 schools in the top 20 (#15 Washington) and four counting USC (#9) and UCLA (#18).
Stanford ranked as the No. 17 most valuable and desirable program, as their strong academics (#1) and all-sports (#2) rankings helped propel them to the top 20. What really seemed to be holding them back from being higher was the fact that they ranked No. 54 in football attendance, and their average football ranking over the past year being No. 46. Having two sub .500 seasons in the past three years will certainly do that.
Even with the ongoing negotiations with EPSN and the Pac-12 it will be interesting to see if Stanford is one of the schools that jumps ship to the Big Ten if given the chance.
