Forbes Announces 2014's Most Valuable College Football Teams

The University of Texas football program will finish outside the Top 25 for the fourth time in five seasons in 2014. Regardless, according to a valuation from Forbes, the Longhorns still sit atop the standings where it really counts: the bank account. 

The magazine listed Texas atop its rankings of the most valuable college football programs Monday, estimating its worth at $131 million. That comes on the back of a $74 million profit buoyed by the Longhorn Network, Big 12 television contracts and perhaps the largest donor base in the nation.

Texas is valued at $9 million more than the next highest school, Notre Dame, which proves on-field excellence is not always the reason for high revenue. None of the three programs sitting atop the list (Michigan is No. 3) have won a national championship since Texas in 2005. Michigan has not won an outright national championship since 1948 while Notre Dame's last title came under Lou Holtz in 1988.

Ranking	School	Value
1	Texas	$131 million
2	Notre Dame	$122 million
3	Michigan	$117 million
4	Alabama	$107 million
5	LSU	$103 million
6	Auburn	$97 million
7	Tennessee	$94 million
8	Oklahoma	$93 million
9	Ohio State	$87 million
10	Georgia	$83 million

Note: The remainder of the list can be found at Forbes.com.

The list becomes far more representative of recent excellence after the initial trio. Alabama, currently the nation's biggest power, is one of four straight SEC schools following Michigan. LSU, Auburn and Tennessee—the latter an outlier but still a more recent champion than Notre Dame or Michigan—follow the Crimson Tide.

Tenth-ranked Georgia gives the SEC five of the 10 most valuable programs. Overall, nine of the SEC's 14 programs appear in the top 20—by far the most in the nation. The Big Ten is second with five schools (Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska and Michigan State). Despite its on-field success, the Pac-12 did not place a single team higher than No. 14 Washington and had only three teams on the list (No. 19 USC and No. 20 Oregon).

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