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WSJ: 2025 College Football Value Rankings (UCF #64 at $132M)

WSJ Article: How Much Is Your College Team Worth?

Article is paywalled, but here's a snippet...

Ohio State is the most valuable program in college football. The Buckeyes would be worth $1.96 billion if the team could be sold on the open market, according to an analysis by Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus. That puts Ohio State just ahead of Texas ($1.9 billion) and rival Michigan ($1.66 billion), with six other programs—Georgia, Notre Dame, LSU, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas A&M—topping the billion dollar mark.

Brewer conducts his study by analyzing a program’s finances and asking: What would it be worth if it could be bought and sold like a professional franchise?

Brewer looks at top-line revenues, growth and drivers of cash flow and makes projections about the sustainability of the operation, just as he would with any other business. It isn’t a mere one-year snapshot, either—he combed through years of data for 131 major college football programs, from the heavyweights all the way down to Louisiana-Monroe. Then, after breaking down everything from television viewership to trends in enrollment, his spreadsheet finally spits out an answer.


UCF ranked #64 (of 131) overall and #13 (of 16) in the Big 12 with a valuation of $132M.

Not surprisingly, the SEC and Big 10 combined for 18 of the top 20 valuations. Notre Dame and Kansas were the only others to crack the top 20.
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The Current State of Florida Programs

Looking at the current state of the in-state programs, we can project where UCF may fit in going forward and what their upside for opportunity is. The big 3 had a golden opportunity over the last 5 + years to carve out their spot as the premier program in the state and have squandered that. Based on last year’s season, FSU (10-3) is far and away the best team currently, while Miami (5-7) and UF (6-7) were questionable at best.

Miami has been especially underwhelming considering the recruiting success they had. Let’s take a look at the last 5 years recruiting rankings for each and their end of season ranking. They had a top 10 class for 2023, but that was in part due to Florida NIL legislation that hamstrung the public schools, their shady donor Ruiz funding a large portion of their war chest, and incompetence from their in-state competition. Now if Miami doesn’t have success immediately, they’re in big trouble. Ruiz may be running away from the SEC (not the conference) soon, UF has gotten their shit together finally and organized their NIL collective, and FSU’s recent success has improved their recruiting dramatically. While 2024’s recruiting rankings are still very early, this is already starting to show

Miami RecruitMiami RankingFlorida RecruitFlorida RankingFSU RecruitFSU RankingUCF RecruitUCF Ranking
20188-14711-6211
201927-9618-6024
2020172291322-75-
202111-12-23-58-
202216-18-201152-
20237TBD14TBD19TBD50TBD
202426TBD12TBD7TBD45TBD

Compounding this is revenue by conference. Let’s take a look at the ACC vs SEC vs Big 12 revenue. Now obviously this doesn’t account for NIL and donations, but there is such a large gap between the SEC and Big 12/ACC, Florida is always positioned for success by being in the premier conference. FSU and Miami, however, are in a much more precarious situation. As realignment looms, they need to position themselves as best as possible over the next couple of seasons. This means no more 5-7 seasons and they must take advantage of a weak ACC for conference title contention. FSU is considered the superior product and should be likely to be swooped up if realignment occurs. However Miami is not a slam dunk 538 Analysis. As we have seen, timing is everything and the teams that do get added are ones that increase value or are on par for existing members. Name recognition only goes so far when it doesn’t translate to on the field success, and resting on the laurels of glory days doesn’t resonate to kids who weren’t even born yet to witness a “dynasty.”

SECBig 12ACC
$68M/year through 2034$31.67M/year through 2031$20M/year through 2036

What does this mean for UCF?

The P5 schools will now have to also compete with UCF for recruiting and power within the state. UCF will likely suck for the next few seasons and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a losing season or two. Historically teams that have jumped from G5 to P5 experiences growing pains as their level of competition ramps up. BUT, with a much larger warchest of revenue and NIL, a greater TV and market presence, and name recognition of the Big 12 in recruiting, we’ll see the program steadily build and improve. UCF is in a prime position, considering the recent sub-par seasons of the big 3 and their positioning for a larger revenue grab. While we may not see the translation of these changes immediately to wins, over time UCF will be competing more and more directly with the other in-state programs. I don’t think anyone expects Gus Malzahn to lead the team to the playoffs, but what he can do is recruit at a high level and hopefully bring the program up to a level of stability for the next coach to build upon.

Around The Kingdom - Has UCF Men's Basketball outperformed Football in the Big 12?

Join Eric Lopez and Trace Trylko as they debate some of the current topics surrounding UCF Sports.

In this episode, the guys look do some comparison between men's basketball and football in their short time in the Big 12.

Plus: what do we think about Scott Frost's introduction at the recent basketball game.

Also: how to fund volleyball, is 5 for 5 a good idea, are you satisfied with the CFP, and snow.

Thanks for watching here ... from the Sons of UCF.

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Hoops Bracketology Thread - Regularly Updated NET/KPI/BPI/SOR/KPom + Rooting Interests


Win over FAU would give us 2 of the better wins among college basketball teams. Auburn and Kansas have good ones, as does Gonzaga, and more will be collected by others in the coming weeks. Baylor had a great win over Arkansas, but also has the L to Gonzaga.

If we can get to a position of going into Wisconsin undefeated it would be really great. A Wisconsin dub should make a ranking undeniable and I’d assume we’d be under ranked in the national polls compared to the different power rankings such as RPI BPI, or whatever is available this early.

OT: Norovirus (stomach)

This virus is as bad as it sounds. I got hit by a freight train Saturday morning around 2 am and puked constantly until 5 am, then puked off and on most of Saturday. Finally got Zofran and it calmed things but my stomach is still cramping, fever, chills- all of it. Have barely eaten in 3 days and finally today can chug Gatorade to hydrate.

Rest of my family got it too but I seem to be the worst.

If you know anyone with this STAY AWAY!

Around The Kingdom - Has UCF Men's Basketball outperformed Football in the Big 12?

Join Eric Lopez and Trace Trylko as they debate some of the current topics surrounding UCF Sports.

In this episode, the guys look do some comparison between men's basketball and football in their short time in the Big 12.

Plus: what do we think about Scott Frost's introduction at the recent basketball game.

Also: how to fund volleyball, is 5 for 5 a good idea, are you satisfied with the CFP, and snow.

Thanks for watching here ... from the Sons of UCF.

Login to view embedded media

OT: TV Show Recommendation Thread 📺

As we're somewhat running out of UCF topics and seeing the GoT thread was popular...

Since there are so many options available these days between the multiple streaming services (or broadcast networks), what series are you or have you recently enjoyed?

My currently-airing favorite is Better Call Saul. I was a fan of Breaking Bad, but in some ways I think I'm enjoying BCS even more.
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