Notre Dame Is the Top-Value College Football Team Going Into 2008

Forbes Business Magazine has selected the most valuable college football teams by comparing what the programs contribute to four areas: the value of contributions from football to the school for academic purposes, net profit generated and retained by the athletic department, distribution of bowl revenue from the conference, and the spending in the local area during home game weekends.

The following is a ranking of the Top-15 teams going into 2008.

Rank#    Team                         Value                             Profit

15) Sou Cal Trojans                 $53 Million (tie)               $13.0 Million

15) Arkansas Razorbacks         $53 Million (tie)               $19.3 Million

13) South Carolina Gamecocks $69 Million (tie)                $28.9 Million

13) Penn State Nittany Lions    $69 Million (tie)                $29.4 Million

11) Oklahoma Sooners            $70 Million                       $18.5 Million

10) Ohio State Buckeyes          $71 Million                       $26.6 Million

9)  Alabama Crimson Tide        $72 Million                        $31.8 Million

8)  Auburn Tigers                   $73 Million                        $33.9 Million

7)  Tennessee Volunteers        $74 Million                        $17.3 Million

6)  Louisiana State Tigers        $76 Million                        $31.7 Million

5)  Florida Gators                   $84 Million                        $38.2 Million

4)  Michigan Wolverines           $85 Million                        $36.2 Million

3)  Georgia Bulldogs               $90 Million                        $43.5 Million

2)  Texas Longhorns              $92 Million                        $46.2 Million

1)  Notre Dame Fighting Irish  $101 Million                       $45.8 Million