College football is changing before our very eyes and will likely never be the same. The product on the field will still be entertaining and draw eyes to the television sets, but it’s going to look and feel very different 10 years from now.
Conference realignment has changed the face of college football over the last 30 years. From the disbanding of the Southwest and Big 8 conferences to the expansion and contraction of the Big East to the realignment that saw four of the Big 12’s programs find new homes a decade ago to what we’ve seen over the last year as powerhouse programs make the move to big-time conferences.
Oklahoma and Texas’ commitment to the SEC and USC and UCLA’s pledge to the Big Ten were the final straws that broke the back of the tradition-rich college football we love.
As the sands shift in college football, profitability and value are just as important as results on the field.
With conference realignment just getting started, let’s take a look back at Forbes’ list from 2019 of the 25 most valuable college football programs. It was the last time they updated the list, but it’s telling.
The new-look SEC, with Texas and Oklahoma, features 12 of the top 25 programs on the list. The only schools not listed are Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Mississippi State. The new-look Big Ten has eight of the top 25. Oregon, Notre Dame, Clemson, Washington, and Florida State make up the rest of the list, and each of those schools has been discussed for possible relocation to the SEC or Big Ten.
The ACC would be in good shape if it weren’t for their media rights agreement that runs through 2036. As media rights deals are estimated to be worth more than a billion dollars for the Big Ten and the SEC in the future, the ACC is getting left behind financially.
That reality could create a situation that leads to more moves coming in the near future for college football’s most valuable programs.
25
Clemson…
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