College football rankings: 10 most valuable programs entering 2022 season
College football means everything to its fans, but to schools, it's still as always a matter of dollars and cents.
It's not just a business, but a very lucrative one, running well into the tens of millions each year. (And one where you don't have to worry about labor costs.)
How do you calculate how much these programs are worth?
According to Go Banking Rates, which went through the data, it's a matter of checking the Education Dept.'s athletics data analysis and adding up the total revenues from the most recent numbers, which were from 2019-20, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ranking college football's most valuable programs
10. Arkansas
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2021 record: 9-4
2019-20 revenue: $52.049 million
Expect the next revenue reports to look even better in the two years since Sam Pittman helped put Arkansas football back on the map.
Last season, the Razorbacks won nine games, including a home date against Texas, and beat Penn State by two touchdowns in another solid SEC bowl game showing.
Arkansas signed Pittman to a contract extension for helping improve the program, which looks to be set on sounder footing under his leadership.
9. Utah
2021 record: 10-4
2019-20 revenue: $53.093 million
Last season was one to remember for Utah, for good and bad reasons: the Utes suffered two tragic deaths on the team early in the year, but rallied over the next few weeks and won the Pac-12 football championship.
Utah capped that off with a thrilling performance in the Rose Bowl, losing to Ohio State by three points and setting up another meaningful 2022 campaign this fall.
8. Texas A&M
2021 record: 8-4
2019-20 revenue: $55.792 million
Jimbo Fisher appears to have the Aggies on the precipice of winning the SEC and making the College Football Playoff, especially after signing what analysts called the greatest recruiting class in modern history.
Now this team comes into 2022 facing another tough schedule, but with plenty of opportunities to impress the CFP selectors, including a midseason date at Alabama.
7. Tennessee
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2021 record: 7-6
2019-20 revenue: $60.808 million
The wins haven't always been there for the Vols since Phillip Fulmer left the school, but the passion has never departed Rocky Top. UT fans are loud and legion on Saturdays at Neyland Stadium and now have reason for hope on the field.
Josh Heupel enters Year 2 off a 7-win debut last fall and returns quarterback Hendon Hooker to drive the 9th ranked offense in college football, but the SEC schedule is always a challenge.
6. Alabama
2021 record: 13-2
2019-20 revenue: $61.4 million
The dynasty of the 21st century, if not all of college football history under Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide have been dominant on the books and on the field recently.
Alabama has won six national championships in the last decade-plus with Saban on the sidelines and the school's large and passionate fan base has been right there with it.
5. Michigan
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2021 record: 12-2
2019-20 revenue: $72.253 million
It's been more than a generation since Michigan last won the national championship, but that hasn't dimmed interest in the school's football program, not by a long shot.
Last season was a major boost for the Wolverines, who under Jim Harbaugh beat rival Ohio State for the first time in eight years, won the Big Ten, and made its first ever College Football Playoff appearance.
4. Notre Dame
2021 record: 11-2
2019-20 revenue: $83.712 million
One of the cornerstone brands in college football history, with tradition and pageantry unrivaled by any school, Notre Dame remains one of the biggest draws in the sport.
The program has made the College Football Playoff twice, but is still awaiting its first national championship since 1988, and looks to be on sound footing under first year head coach Marcus Freeman.
3. Georgia
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2021 record: 14-1
2019-20 revenue: $85.392 million
The moment Georgia hired alum Kirby Smart to lead its football program, you got the sense it could be a turning point in the SEC and nationally.
In six short years, Smart led the Bulldogs to a pair of College Football Playoff appearances, and helped the school win its first national championship since 1980.
2. Texas
2021 record: 5-7
2019-20 revenue: $97.223 million
They say football is a religion in the state of Texas, and they're not always exaggerating, with interest in the Longhorns always at a fever pitch, even if the wins haven't been there for much of the last decade.
But when Texas is good, there are few, if any, schools that can match the passion and the profit across the college football landscape.
1. Oklahoma
2021 record: 11-2
2019-20 revenue: $101.119 million
The only school to surpass the nine figure mark in these rankings, Oklahoma has been a consistent winner this century and is the winningest school since World War II.
OU has been on a firm foundation since 2000, first under Bob Stoops and then Lincoln Riley, who guided it into the College Football Playoff era, but is starting over with Brent Venables, the sport's most respected defensive strategist, as head coach.
Ranking the rest of college football's moneymakers
11. Auburn — $51.651 million
12. Nebraska — $51.421 million
13. Florida — $51.230 million
14. Ole Miss — $49.111 million
15. Wisconsin — $48.559 million
16. Oregon — $48.123 million
17. Penn State — $47.204 million
18. Iowa State — $46.794 million
19. Washington — $45.516 million
20. Minnesota — $45.125 million
21. South Carolina — $43.854 million
22. Ohio State — $43.835 million
23. Clemson — $43.797 million
24. North Carolina — $43.654 million
25. Iowa — 43.491 million