Which College Football Programs Are The Most Valuable?

After years of college football mostly operating in secrecy, 2024 was the year that most fans finally realized that college football is big business. Millions, billions of dollars are floating around the sport, as they have for years, with some of that money now making its way to players.

One of the results of that shift in model now means college football programs are looking for outside investors to help shore up funds to fill out their rosters. And what do outside investors want to know? The exact value of what they're investing in.

To that end, CNBC and Athletic Director U, a training program for future AD's, came up with a new list of the most valuable programs. With some surprising, and unsurprising, results.

Per their research, the top 10 most valuable programs are as follows:

DALLAS - Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns speaks during SEC Football Media Days at Omni Dallas Hotel on July 17, 2024 in Dallas, Texas.  (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

For the most part, this is about as expected. Ohio State and Texas are two of the biggest names in college football, with recent success and 2024 playoff appearances to point to. Alabama and Georgia have been two of the most successful programs of the last decade, with multiple championships for each. Notre Dame, despite having little in the way of major bowl wins, is a historic program with a large, devoted fan base, primarily of people who attended other schools but have Irish heritage, but that's another issue.

But Nebraska and Texas A&M are two schools with little to no recent success. What are they doing here, while schools like Clemson or USC miss out?

Clearly, it helps to have a dedicated donor and fan base with few other distractions.

Nebraska