The Athletic ranks college football programs by valuation. Where is Ohio State?

USA Today

5 days ago

It's not there yet, but college football is getting closer and closer to the model of professional franchises. And while programs will likely never be privately owned and sold on the open marketplace, the emphasis on name, image and likeness, the transfer portal, direct revenue payments to players, and the ballooning costs and revenue mean you could theoretically place a price tag on each college football program.
That's exactly what Matt Baker of The Athletic attempted to do when looking at every FBS program and what they would be worth in the open market of fair trade and value. At this point, we all know that Ohio State is one of the biggest brands out there when it comes to college football, and Baker's results reflect that. But before we get there, it's important to note the methodology used in valuating college football programs to see how Baker arrived at his list. We'll spare you the full details, but the Cliff Notes version is based on transactions in real-life of professional teams, all while factoring in "everything from prestige and championships to facility renovations, population trends and realignment scenarios."
In other words, it's an opinion piece based on a squishy set of numbers, but you get the idea. There's simply no way to tell what a college football program would sell for because there's no precedent and because there likely never will be. However, you can bet that the usual suspects would likely command high dollar vs. the others out there.
So, after crunching all of the numbers and using the other factors, Baker has Ohio State valued at $1.9 billion, which is good enough for No. 3 on the highest artificially valued college football programs. You might be asking then, what two programs are ahead of rabidness and reach of the Buckeyes, and that would be Texas at No. 1 ($2.38 billion), followed by Georgia at No. 2 ($1.92 billion), just ahead of OSU. Rounding out the top ten behind those three are No. 4 Notre Dame ($1.85 billion), No. 5 Michigan ($1.83 billion), No. 6 Alabama ($1.74 billion), No. 7 Oklahoma ($1.49 billions), No. 8 USC ($1.4 billion), No. 9 Tennessee ($1.37 billion), and No. 10 LSU ($1.23 billion)
I get the Texas argument. The Longhorns have a huge following in a football-rich state, but I don't for one moment believe Georgia would be sold for more money than the massive brand that is Ohio State. No way, no how. I think Texas and Ohio State are the two biggest names out there that could pull in the most merchandising, fan support, and money opportunities available -- if this were a real thing. I'd even argue that OSU would be bigger than Texas, but that's an argument that can have merits either way.
These valuation rankings go well beyond a top ten. If you are interested in looking at the rest of them and forming your own opinions, we welcome you to head on over to The Athletic and check it all out.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.