Forbes recently compiled a list of the most valuable teams in college football, with the Texas Longhorns at the top of the balance sheet.
By virtue of their independent television deal with ESPN, the Longhorns were valued at $129 million. Texas wasn’t just the most valuable team in college football either. The Longhorns generated a profit of $71 million in 2011, $18 million more than their closest competitors.
Notre Dame was second on Forbes’ list, valued at $112 million. Like Texas, the Fighting Irish can attribute most of their value to the television deal they have with NBC.
Despite the scandal that rocked Penn State this year, the Nittany Lions were Forbes’ third most valuable college football team at $100 million.
Penn State and Alabama are two of college football's most valuable teams
The Nittany Lions tied Georgia as college football’s most profitable teams, with each school generating $53 million.
LSU and Michigan rounded out Forbes top five most valuable college football teams. The Tigers were valued at $96 million while the Wolverines had a value of $94 million.
Of the top 20 most valuable college football teams nine schools were from the SEC, the most of any conference.
The Big Ten had the second most schools on Forbes’ list with seven, followed by the Big 12 with three and the Pac-12 with one.
None of the schools from the Big East or ACC were among Forbes’ top 20 most valuable college football teams.
| 2011 Most Valuable College Football Teams | ||||||||||||||
| Team | 2011 Value | 2011 Profit | Conference | |||||||||||
| Texas Longhorns | $129 Million | $71 Million | Big 12 | |||||||||||
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | $112 Million | $47 Million | Independent | |||||||||||
| Penn State Nittany Lions | $100 Million | $53 Million | Big Ten | |||||||||||
| LSU Tigers | $96 Million | $47 Million | SEC | |||||||||||
| Michigan Wolverines | $94 Million | $47 Million | Big Ten | |||||||||||
| Alabama Crimson Tide | $93 Million | $45 Million | SEC | |||||||||||
| Georgia Bulldogs | $90 Million | $53 Million | SEC | |||||||||||
| Arkansas Razorbacks | $89 Million | $37 Million | SEC | |||||||||||
| Auburn Tigers | $88 Million | $37 Million | SEC | |||||||||||
| Oklahoma Sooners | $87 Million | $36 Million | Big 12 | |||||||||||
| Florida Gators | $86 Million | $47 Million | SEC | |||||||||||
| Tennessee Vols | $82 Million | $38 Million | SEC | |||||||||||
| Ohio State Buckeyes | $78 Million | $26 Million | Big Ten | |||||||||||
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | $77 Million | $35 Million | Big Ten | |||||||||||
| Wisconsin Badgers | $67 Million | $20 Million | Big Ten | |||||||||||
| South Carolina Gamecocks | $64 Million | $23 Million | SEC | |||||||||||
| Texas A&M Aggies | $63 Million | $30 Million | SEC | |||||||||||
| USC Trojans | $62 Million | $29 Million | Pac-12 | |||||||||||
| Michigan State Spartans | $59 Million | $28 Million | Big Ten | |||||||||||
| Iowa Hawkeyes | $48 Million | $24 Million | Big Ten | |||||||||||
