The Michigan Wolverines are the third-most valuable college football team in the United States, according to a new list from Forbes, while Michigan State is ranked No. 22.
According to Forbes, the Wolverines come in behind two teams from Texas and ahead of both Alabama and Ohio State.
With $127 million in average revenue from the 2014-2016 seasons, Michigan is actually tied with Alabama, but they have a higher profit margin which puts them ahead; $75 million to $59 million.
This is the first time Forbes has ranked college football teams since 2015, and the first time they rank them by average annual revenue. To determine the rankings, Forbes looked at annual filings from the university athletic departments to the NCAA and Department of Education.
Michigan State comes in at 22nd on the list with $80 million in revenue and $39 million in profit.
Texas A&M is the No. 1 team with an average revenue of $148 million and a $107 million profit, followed by Texas at $133 million and $87 million in profit. Ohio State comes in at No. 5 with $120 million and $69 million in profit.
The top 25 teams are (with revenue and profit numbers listed next to them):
- Texas A&M Aggies - $148M, $107m
- Texas Longhorns - $133M, $87M
- Michigan Wolverines - $127M, $75M
- Alabama Crimson Tide - $127M, $59M
- Ohio State Buckeyes - $120M, $69M
- Oklahoma Sooners - $118M, $72M
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish - $112M, $72M
- Auburn Tigers - $112M, $61M
- LSU Tigers - $112M, $56M
- Florida Gators - $111M, $67M
- Tennessee Volunteers - $108M, $60M
- Oregon Ducks - $92M, $54M
- Arkansas Razorbacks - $92M, $54M
- Penn State Nittany Lions - $92M, $48M
- South Carolina Gamecocks - $90M, $50M
- Georgia Bulldogs - $89M, $55M
- Florida State Seminoles - $88M, $41M
- USC Trojans - $87M, $47M
- Washington Huskies - $84M, $36M
- Nebraska Cornhuskers - $83M, $46M
- Ole Miss Rebels - $80M, $42M
- Michigan State Spartans - $79M, $38M
- Iowa Hawkeyes - $78M, $43M
- Texas Tech Red Raiders - $60M, $31M
