USA Today is out with its annual report on college athletics’ richest, and poorest, programs, compiling data on each of the 230 government-run schools in the NCAA’s Division I, ranking them by revenues, expenses, and money allocated.
#Yessir, Texas A&M was the runaway leader for nation’s most successful college athletics program in terms of total revenues.
But revenues and expenses on their own don’t tell the whole story. Comparing each against each other gives a better picture of the state of college athletics.
For example, despite its legendary reputation and glitzy image, if it weren’t for the minimum $15 million guaranteed the school each year under its notorious “Longhorn Network” deal with ESPN, University of Texas athletics would appear to be a money loser.
Of the 230 schools for whom USA Today had information (private institutions do not have the same reporting requirements,) 128 bring in more revenue than they rack up in expenses. Only 72 of the 230 programs lose money. The remaining 30 schools’ books balance evenly.
In total, athletics are a net plus for colleges. Division I programs bring in $9,711,940,160, and cost $9,437,058,460, generating a net profit of $274,881,700.
Which schools are making bank, and which are going broke? Here is USA Today’s data, calculated to show where each stands when expenses are subtracted from revenues.
| RANK | SCHOOL | REVENUE-EXPENSES |
| 1 | Texas A&M | $57,286,676 |
| 2 | Oklahoma | $23,104,876 |
| 3 | Florida | $20,133,993 |
| 4 | Arkansas | $19,347,466 |
| 5 | West Virginia | $19,239,716 |
| 6 | Alabama | $18,732,379 |
| 7 | LSU | $17,698,550 |
| 8 | Texas | $16,586,871 |
| 9 | Auburn | $15,206,194 |
| 10 | Mississippi | $13,419,662 |
| 11 | Tennessee | $12,437,451 |
| 12 | Mississippi State | $10,171,314 |
| 13 | Nebraska | $8,397,186 |
| 14 | Georgia | $7,207,623 |
| 15 | Kansas State | $7,052,168 |
| 16 | Michigan | $5,978,517 |
| 17 | South Carolina | $5,595,582 |
| 18 | Arizona State | $5,575,966 |
| 19 | Army | $5,539,129 |
| 20 | Kansas | $4,955,565 |
| 21 | Kentucky | $4,954,666 |
| 22 | Texas Tech | $4,397,744 |
| 23 | Charlotte | $4,394,590 |
| 24 | Ohio State | $3,978,747 |
| 25 | Virginia | $3,470,580 |
| 26 | Texas State | $3,429,469 |
| 27 | Florida Atlantic | $2,958,915 |
| 28 | Missouri | $2,952,146 |
| 29 | Penn State | $2,898,927 |
| 30 | Minnesota | $2,832,455 |
| 31 | Louisville | $2,753,174 |
| 32 | California Polytechnic | $2,610,811 |
| 33 | Colorado | $2,543,557 |
| 34 | Wichita State | $2,482,889 |
| 35 | Wisconsin | $2,355,353 |
| 36 | Chicago State | $1,994,563 |
| 37 | Sam Houston State | $1,960,531 |
| 38 | Clemson | $1,763,077 |
| 39 | North Dakota State | $1,761,318 |
| 40 | Montana | $1,724,756 |
| 41 | Florida International | $1,609,708 |
| 42 | Alabama at Birmingham | $1,605,671 |
| 43 | Central Michigan | $1,532,493 |
| 44 | Kennesaw State | $1,500,607 |
| 45 | Oregon | $1,498,487 |
| 46 | Utah | $1,395,541 |
| 47 | Texas-Rio Grande Valley | $1,389,923 |
| 48 | San Diego State | $1,265,493 |
| 49 | Marshall | $1,253,350 |
| 50 | Georgia Southern | $1,200,813 |
| 51 | Michigan State | $1,142,101 |
| 52 | Cincinnati | $1,084,722 |
| 53 | Indiana | $1,026,506 |
| 54 | Texas-San Antonio | $982,051 |
| 55 | Austin Peay | $870,130 |
| 56 | Northwestern State La | $863,885 |
| 57 | Florida Gulf Coast | $851,290 |
| 58 | Southern | $823,483 |
| 59 | Fresno State | $748,235 |
| 60 | Oklahoma State | $746,142 |
| 61 | Radford | $743,276 |
| 62 | Stony Brook | $724,040 |
| 63 | South Alabama | $716,168 |
| 64 | Ohio | $713,864 |
| 65 | Virginia Commonwealth | $687,810 |
| 66 | Old Dominion | $683,712 |
| 67 | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | $673,367 |
| 68 | California State-Bakersfield | $654,618 |
| 69 | California-Davis | $622,198 |
| 70 | New Jersey Tech | $613,698 |
| 71 | Oakland | $595,672 |
| 72 | Illinois State | $590,732 |
| 73 | Citadel | $584,334 |
| 74 | Nevada-Las Vegas | $582,142 |
| 75 | Arkansas-Little Rock | $572,641 |
| 76 | South Dakota State | $518,030 |
| 77 | South Carolina Upstate | $496,664 |
| 78 | College of Charleston | $472,249 |
| 79 | Rhode Island | $457,381 |
| 80 | Idaho | $456,499 |
| 81 | Albany | $428,585 |
| 82 | Prairie View A&M | $402,900 |
| 83 | Massachusetts-Lowell | $397,340 |
| 84 | Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne | $390,618 |
| 85 | Miami (Ohio) | $376,133 |
| 86 | Southeast Missouri State | $361,388 |
| 87 | North Carolina State | $319,305 |
| 88 | Lamar | $316,799 |
| 89 | San Jose State | $311,292 |
| 90 | Western Illinois | $311,007 |
| 91 | California-Riverside | $306,518 |
| 92 | Louisiana Tech | $286,339 |
| 93 | New Hampshire | $264,244 |
| 94 | North Carolina Wilmington | $239,306 |
| 95 | Central Arkansas | $218,762 |
| 96 | Binghamton | $204,176 |
| 97 | Texas-El Paso | $198,667 |
| 98 | Appalachian State | $188,874 |
| 99 | Utah Valley | $160,232 |
| 100 | Stephen F. Austin | $152,103 |
| 101 | Alabama State | $149,876 |
| 102 | Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis | $141,159 |
| 103 | South Dakota | $129,300 |
| 104 | Western Carolina | $125,299 |
| 105 | Texas-Arlington | $124,053 |
| 106 | North Carolina Greensboro | $122,194 |
| 107 | Southern Illinois Edwardsville | $120,591 |
| 108 | Georgia Tech | $107,488 |
| 109 | Nevada | $107,131 |
| 110 | Idaho State | $97,780 |
| 111 | Nicholls State | $94,959 |
| 112 | California State-Northridge | $92,652 |
| 113 | Southeastern Louisiana | $90,684 |
| 114 | Iowa State | $76,191 |
| 115 | Maine | $74,058 |
| 116 | North Carolina Asheville | $67,023 |
| 117 | Buffalo | $47,847 |
| 118 | Eastern Illinois | $45,565 |
| 119 | Louisiana-Monroe | $36,571 |
| 120 | Maryland-Baltimore Cty | $30,039 |
| 121 | Connecticut | $17,571 |
| 122 | Weber State | $16,940 |
| 123 | Georgia State | $16,674 |
| 124 | Murray State | $13,362 |
| 125 | South Carolina State | $11,159 |
| 126 | Western Michigan | $7,064 |
| 127 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | $5,969 |
| 128 | Eastern Kentucky | $6 |
| 129 | UCLA | $0 |
| 130 | North Carolina | $0 |
| 131 | Maryland | $0 |
| 132 | Rutgers | $0 |
| 133 | Central Florida | $0 |
| 134 | James Madison | $0 |
| 135 | Arkansas State | $0 |
| 136 | Delaware | $0 |
| 137 | Middle Tennessee | $0 |
| 138 | Eastern Michigan | $0 |
| 139 | Western Kentucky | $0 |
| 140 | George Mason | $0 |
| 141 | Troy | $0 |
| 142 | Missouri State | $0 |
| 143 | Southern Mississippi | $0 |
| 144 | Illinois-Chicago | $0 |
| 145 | Tennessee-Chattanooga | $0 |
| 146 | Central Connecticut | $0 |
| 147 | California State-Fullerton | $0 |
| 148 | Jacksonville State | $0 |
| 149 | Youngstown State | $0 |
| 150 | Tennessee State | $0 |
| 151 | Norfolk State | $0 |
| 152 | Cleveland State | $0 |
| 153 | Texas Southern | $0 |
| 154 | Tennessee-Martin | $0 |
| 155 | Jackson State | $0 |
| 156 | Maryland-Eastern Shore | $0 |
| 157 | New Orleans | $0 |
| 158 | Mississippi Valley State | $0 |
| 159 | Northern Arizona | -$6,462 |
| 160 | Morehead State | -$32,502 |
| 161 | William & Mary | -$44,571 |
| 162 | Indiana State | -$57,941 |
| 163 | North Florida | -$67,357 |
| 164 | Louisiana-Lafayette | -$68,884 |
| 165 | Purdue | -$78,977 |
| 166 | Memphis | -$87,910 |
| 167 | Boise State | -$129,244 |
| 168 | East Tennessee State | -$150,178 |
| 169 | Wisconsin-Green Bay | -$174,451 |
| 170 | McNeese State | -$193,645 |
| 171 | Montana State | -$197,766 |
| 172 | Northern Colorado | -$213,396 |
| 173 | Northern Illinois | -$224,854 |
| 174 | Longwood | -$247,339 |
| 175 | Southern Utah | -$253,066 |
| 176 | VMI | -$255,446 |
| 177 | North Carolina Central | -$255,456 |
| 178 | Winthrop | -$288,857 |
| 179 | Wyoming | -$342,634 |
| 180 | Utah State | -$370,814 |
| 181 | Wisconsin-Milwaukee | -$379,235 |
| 182 | North Carolina A&T | -$434,463 |
| 183 | Massachusetts | -$441,369 |
| 184 | California-Irvine | -$473,296 |
| 185 | Florida A&M | -$485,973 |
| 186 | Northern Kentucky | -$531,937 |
| 187 | New Mexico State | -$572,101 |
| 188 | Tennessee Tech | -$587,623 |
| 189 | Sacramento State | -$606,694 |
| 190 | Delaware State | -$638,158 |
| 191 | Houston | -$735,269 |
| 192 | Missouri-Kansas City | -$743,198 |
| 193 | Coastal Carolina | -$752,432 |
| 194 | Northern Iowa | -$765,333 |
| 195 | Portland State | -$776,933 |
| 196 | Akron | -$791,729 |
| 197 | North Texas | -$876,549 |
| 198 | Coppin State | -$883,499 |
| 199 | Bowling Green | -$883,526 |
| 200 | Virginia Tech | -$914,330 |
| 201 | Colorado State | -$931,891 |
| 202 | Vermont | -$976,058 |
| 203 | East Carolina | -$1,201,883 |
| 204 | South Florida | -$1,244,372 |
| 205 | Alcorn State | -$1,309,640 |
| 206 | Eastern Washington | -$1,311,207 |
| 207 | Wright State | -$1,411,908 |
| 208 | North Dakota | -$1,447,858 |
| 209 | Long Beach State | -$1,538,316 |
| 210 | Morgan State | -$1,602,624 |
| 211 | New Mexico | -$1,645,373 |
| 212 | Ball State | -$1,683,770 |
| 213 | California-Santa Barbara | -$1,746,291 |
| 214 | Savannah State | -$1,824,019 |
| 215 | Nebraska-Omaha | -$1,843,957 |
| 216 | Florida State | -$1,877,486 |
| 217 | Arizona | -$1,898,378 |
| 218 | Towson | -$1,988,174 |
| 219 | Kent State | -$2,010,558 |
| 220 | Washington | -$2,406,412 |
| 221 | Grambling State | -$2,444,231 |
| 222 | Iowa | -$2,919,720 |
| 223 | Hawaii | -$3,354,428 |
| 224 | Southern Illinois | -$4,303,381 |
| 225 | Oregon State | -$4,936,436 |
| 226 | Toledo | -$5,376,238 |
| 227 | Illinois | -$6,663,410 |
| 228 | Alabama A&M | -$6,779,452 |
| 229 | Washington State | -$12,935,357 |
| 230 | California | -$21,728,746 |
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