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Most Valuable College Football Programs

Matt Peloquin — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:53:22 +0000

Forbes recently released their list of the most valuable college football programs. Here’s a breakdown of the top 20 including being grouped by conference:

Ranking-School-Value-Conference

#1) Texas: $129 million (Big 12)

#2) Notre Dame: $112 million (Independent)

#3) Penn State: $100 million (Big Ten)

#4) LSU: $96 million (SEC)

#5) Michigan: $94 million (Big Ten)

#6) Alabama: $93 million (SEC)

#7) Georgia: $90 million (SEC)

#8) Arkansas: $89 million (SEC)

#9) Auburn: $88 million (SEC)

#10) Oklahoma: $87 million (Big 12)

#11) Florida: $86 million (SEC)

#12) Tennessee: $82 million (SEC)

#13) Ohio State: $78 million (Big Ten)

#14) Nebraska: $77 million (Big Ten)

#15) Wisconsin: $67 million (Big Ten)

#16) South Carolina: $64 million (SEC)

#17) Texas A&M: $63 million (SEC)

#18) USC: $62 million (Pac-12)

#19) Michigan State: $59 million (Big Ten)

#20) Iowa: $48 million (Big Ten)

By Conference:

Big 12:

#1) Texas: $129 million (Big 12)

#10) Oklahoma: $87 million (Big 12)

Big Ten:

#3) Penn State: $100 million (Big Ten)

#5) Michigan: $94 million (Big Ten)

#13) Ohio State: $78 million (Big Ten)

#14) Nebraska: $77 million (Big Ten)

#15) Wisconsin: $67 million (Big Ten)

#19) Michigan State: $59 million (Big Ten)

#20) Iowa: $48 million (Big Ten)

Independent:

#2) Notre Dame: $112 million (Independent)

Pac-12:

#18) USC: $62 million (Pac-12)

SEC:

#4) LSU: $96 million (SEC)

#6) Alabama: $93 million (SEC)

#7) Georgia: $90 million (SEC)

#8) Arkansas: $89 million (SEC)

#9) Auburn: $88 million (SEC)

#11) Florida: $86 million (SEC)

#12) Tennessee: $82 million (SEC)

#16) South Carolina: $64 million (SEC)

#17) Texas A&M: $63 million (SEC)

Is It Time for San Jose St. to Consider a Name Change to California St?

Matt Peloquin — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:18:42 +0000

Four years ago I wrote about the marketing impact in college sports of schools opting for name changes. I briefly touched on some of the trends we had seen such as schools in urban areas dropped the “state” such as the transformation of Memphis St. University to University of Memphis. But the area that seems most beneficial is when schools are able to drop their directional nomenclature such as Southwestern Texas State becoming Texas St. and Southwest Missouri St. becoming Missouri St. The adoption of “YOUR SCHOOL” + “STATE” is one that only so many schools can actually have…it’s something that is coveted. As as we’ve seen, there are often political barriers that make such name changes difficult. Look no further than the transformations at Southwest Louisiana and Northeast Louisiana. One had a goal of becoming University of Louisiana, but in the end, the only change that was approved was for each school to adopt the title followed by their city. So we then saw the birth of University of Louisiana – Lafayette and Louisiana – Monroe.

On the west coast, we have an even more interesting situation in California.

California has a number of schools in the University of California system, with the flagship being in Berkley. The school goes by the nickname “Cal” but is recognized as California. All the other University of California system schools abide by the “UC” and city initials, such as UCLA, UCSB, etc.

The bulk of the the other California public universities are part of the California State University system. But the structure they take can be more confusing. In some cases, schools are recognized by with a “Cal St” or “CSU” followed by the city. Cal St – Northridge is a prime example. But then there are other schools who have opted for a different naming structure with the CITY and “State”. A number of schools fit this bill such as Fresno St., San Diego St., both in the FBS Mountain West conference. This system is also adopted by Sacramento St., an FCS school in the Big Sky and Long Beach St. in the Big West. Even Cal St. or CSU-Fullerton goes through some confusing naming with at times people referring to them as Fullerton St.

But this leads to the issue of San Jose St.

San Jose St. has been a WAC member, plays FBS football, and right now is one of the forgotten schools, left behind in the WAC following the Mountain West Conference raid that brought in Boise St., Nevada, Fresno St., and Hawaii (football only). A few months ago, San Jose St. was somewhat in the mix for a final MWC spot when the conference was considering expansion to 12 to have a football championship game. The potential inclusion of San Jose St. was less a desire of the MWC, but more by the MWC TV partner, Comcast, which has a large subscriber base in the Bay Area. Ultimately, the MWC passed on adding Utah St. and San Jose St. and will remain at 12.

But when it comes to San Jose St., perhaps a name change could be enough to give them a much needed boost.

San Jose St. hasn’t had as much success on the field and on the basketball court, the two sports that generate the most revenue for schools. Both sports also serve as important branding methods in getting the name of the school out there to potential students seeking enrollment. It’s a life long fact that success in both sports has often triggered a boost in enrollment the following year.

But success isn’t necessarily the only factor here.

The actual name of a school can carry weight. As we’ve seen with Texas St. and Missouri St. in recent years, there has been a noticeable brand boost to both schools. The psychology behind it comes back to the human element of exclusivity: in being the official flagship school of the state in peoples minds, there is a legitimacy added to the mindset.

So for San Jose St., the question is, why hasn’t the California State University system opted to give the same benefit to it’s flagship school, San Jose St., that the University of California system has given to it’s school in Berkley?

In 2007, the San Jose St. students had the opportunity to vote on a name change. But let’s not get carried away here: the name change proposal was to change from San Jose St. to CSU-San Jose or Cal St. San Jose. Not exactly a homerun and easy to see why the change ultimately never went through.

But in taking the move a step further, I think you’d find most people in agreement: is San Jose St. were renamed California St., it would be a “win” for the school in all areas such as branding and perception.

College sports would also benefit. It’s not a stretch to think that a coach recruiting in another state would have a better sell if they could tell the athlete and his parents, “your child will be attending California St.” as opposed to San Jose St. From a broadcast perspective, “California St.” has a much broader appeal than “San Jose St”. San Jose St. might be the pride for a select few in the city of San Jose. But a California St. brand would carry over into the entire Bay Area and south to Los Angeles…and the rest of the country.

The reason why San Jose St., the flagship school of the California State University system, hasn’t gone through this change is the same problem we’ve seen in many other states: politics. But perhaps it’s time for the CSU system to realize the benefits. San Jose St. is the only FBS level school left on it’s own, without any other Cal St. schools, and in the lowest FBS conference (WAC). A name change might not boost a move to the MWC or other higher conference. But it would allow the system to maximize the schools presence where they currently are.

West Florida Considers Football

Matt Peloquin — Fri, 21 May 2010 11:37:00 +0000

The University of West Florida is considering adding football. Such a move would give the region a strong Division II football presence in the Gulf coast Conference.

If UWF does go forward with this, they could one day join the FCS ranks and would be an appealing option to conferences in the area like the Big South or even the Southland should they need new members. If they were in the Atlantic Sun for all sports if they eventually upgraded to Division 1 in the next 10-15 years, you might see enough members in that conference to sponsor football.

Ole Miss Mascot: From Colonel Reb to Admiral Ackbar?

Matt Peloquin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:46:00 +0000

Tuesday, the students voted in favor of a new mascot & the favorite is Admiral Ackbar. No, really.

When the Ole Miss administration voted to chuck Colonel Reb as the school’s official mascot in 2003, chances are they didn’t have Admiral Ackbar in mind as a replacement.
However, it appears that long after concluding his illustrious military career in Star Wars‘ Rebel Alliance, Ackbar is indeed in the running to be the school’s new sporting symbol.
A group of four students, dubbed the Ole Miss Rebel Alliance, have started a grassroots campaign to re-enlist the legendary Mon Calamari admiral through Notatrap.org — obviously named in tribute to Ackbar’s most famous utterance.

Southern Cal wins the USC “Logo War”

Matt Peloquin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:50:00 +0000

News came Tuesday from a federal appeals court, which ruled that Southern Cal — not the University of South Carolina — had the rightful trademark claim to an interlocking “SC” logo employed by both institutions. The ruling will not force South Carolina to immediately discontinue use of the logo, which is predominantly featured on baseball caps. It will, however, deny South Carolina some of the trademark protections that come with federal registration, while at the same time granting Southern Cal an opening to legally challenge South Carolina’s use of the logo.

FIU To Play UNC Afterall

Matt Peloquin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:19:00 +0000

All that posturing by FIU did nothing but the inevitable: FIU to play UNC, not Ohio St. Lots of rants by FIU when regardless of who they play, they get 3 home games out of the deal. FIU would have had a hard time getting 3 home games versus D2 schools.

FIU decided Tuesday that it will play North Carolina in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament as scheduled.
The Golden Panthers said they would have preferred to play Ohio State in the opening round of the event. Tournament organizers, however, ultimately decided FIU was a better fit to meet the defending national champions instead.
FIU considered several options, including pushing back its appearance in the event to 2010, before agreeing to play the Nov. 9 game — which will be Isiah Thomas’ first as coach of the Golden Panthers.

Kudos to UConn

Matt Peloquin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:07:00 +0000

After getting a bad deal with Notre Dame (6 years, ZERO home games), UConn has pulled out of the proposed deal. Uconn would have held it’s “home” games at Foxboro and Giants Stadium for the duration of the series.

Bowling Green Football Downgrade A Possibility

Matt Peloquin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:05:00 +0000

Bowling Green AD Greg Christopher recently revealed some of the options as the school struggles to deal with a $6 to $10 million deficit:

¥ Dropping all sports to Division II;
¥ Eliminating football;
¥ Going to a tier system for selected sports;
¥ Dropping selected sports.

One option that might make sense would be to downgrade football to FBS, and join the Missouri Valley Conference.

EWU to Drop Football?

Matt Peloquin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:11:00 +0000

“Football has never been easy at Eastern Washington University. But it has seldom, if ever, been this difficult
From huge budget shortfalls to periods of administrative indifference to fan apathy, Eastern’s football program has struggled to stay competitive – at any level. For the most part, with the exception of an ugly three-year stretch in the early 1960s when the Eagles went 2-24-1, it has.
But now comes another towering wave of financial woes, churned up by a tanking economy and expected to crash down directly on top of a further-restrictive set of sanctions handed down by the NCAA following a mid-February investigation that uncovered numerous minor rules violations.
Among those sanctions were three years of probation, the loss of a full-time assistant coaching position and the reduction of two scholarships a year through 2010.
The piling on has been enough to prompt some faculty and staff members at the university to revisit the question of whether it is worth the cost and effort to keep the football program afloat, especially at its current NCAA Football Championship Subdivision level.
University president Rodolpho Arévalo admits he has heard such rumblings around campus.”

Northeastern Basketball on Probation

Matt Peloquin — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Northeastern has been placed on probation for two years and had its scholarships and recruiting privileges reduced because of violations in its men’s basketball program, the NCAA announced Friday.

The school’s recruiting violations included giving unauthorized benefits to a student-athlete and banned activity by a booster, someone who helps an athletics department land new players, the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions said.

The booster repeatedly e-mailed and telephoned an international student-athlete and at least one of his relatives to encourage him to travel to the United States to attend Northeastern, bought him a plane ticket and put him up in a hotel, the committee said.