Wall Street Journal reveals value of each SEC football program

It certainly pays to be SEC these days.

Andrew Beaton with the Wall Street Journal reported on the value of the top college programs in the nation, and the most valuable team in the country is the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Which team is the most valuable? That would be Ohio State, which has surged to a $1.5 billion valuation, according to an analysis by Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus…Texas ($1.24 billion) and Oklahoma ($1 billion) round out the three programs worth an estimated 10 figures.

The SEC may not have a team in the top three, but the conference dominated the top 10 with five teams. The Big 10 and Big 12 had two teams each with one independent in the top 10.

The concentration of SEC teams near the top has helped the average valuation of every SEC team with an average valuation of $523 million. That mark is the best among conferences and is over $100 million better than the Big 10 average ($416 million).

It will come as no surprise, but Alabama was the top SEC team with a $930 million valuation given to the Crimson Tide. LSU was the only other SEC team to eclipse the $900 million mark.

Here’s how the SEC teams are ranked on the list:

4. Alabama – $930 million

5. LSU – $911 million

8. Georgia – $822 million

9. Tennessee – $746 million

10. Auburn – $724 million

11. Florida – $682 million

13. Texas A&M – $523 million

15. South Carolina – $485 million

17. Arkansas – $456 million

23. Ole Miss – $331 million

28. Kentucky – $288 million

35. Mississippi State – $231 million

56. Missouri – $126 million

64. Vanderbilt – $74  million

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.