How Much Is Your College-Basketball Team Worth?
Kentucky remains the most valuable program in the sport, while the Atlantic Coast Conference has four teams in the top seven
By Andrew Beaton
April 8, 2019 12:04 p.m. ET
One team will be crowned college basketball’s champion on Monday night after a nutty season that included rug heists, controversial calls and one famously broken shoe. But before the confetti falls and “One Shining Moment” plays, there’s another question to answer: Which program is the most valuable in the country?
Hint: Virginia and Texas Tech aren’t close.
Kentucky leads the country with a valuation of $334.2 million, according to an annual study by Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus. This is Kentucky’s third straight year atop the rankings, while its value shot up 35.5% over a year ago. John Calipari’s reward for leading the country’s most valuable program: a recent lifetime contract extension.
The annual study assesses what every college team would be worth if it could be bought and sold on the open market like a professional franchise. Brewer’s analysis takes into account each program’s revenues and expenses with cash-flow adjustments, risk assessments and growth projections.
Overall, values across the sport were up 9.3%—a major bounce back after they were down 7.4% a year ago when various issues such as the federal probe that exposed alleged corruption, bribery and kickbacks in the sport threatened its popularity.
While those issues haven’t dissipated, Brewer found that the fundamentals of the sport proved to be extremely strong over the past year, leading to the growth in values. Those key positive factors included encouraging television ratings that indicated fans are still flocking to the sport in spite of any underlying questions that may still exist. “The sport itself is really in good shape,” Brewer said. “There’s a ton of demand.”
Important elements during this season, Brewer noted were the competitive games during the NCAA tournament and, yes, Duke star Zion Williamson. Although Williamson may be in college for just this one season, he brought rejuvenated attention to the sport in a way that can be long lasting, Brewer added.
Wiliamson’s Blue Devils ranked fourth in Brewer’s rankings with a $201.5 million valuation and as one of four ACC teams in the top seven, including Louisville ($238.4 million), Syracuse ($163 million) and North Carolina ($145.4 million). Overall, Kansas ($319.5 million) came in with the second-highest value. And Indiana ranked fifth at $196.2 million, but its value fell by 19.3% with Brewer saying the school’s on-court struggles—it has missed the NCAA tournament for three straight years—are now catching up to one of the country’s most historically successful programs.
The two teams in this year’s title game, No. 1 seed Virginia ($64 million) and No. 3 seed Texas Tech ($40.3 million) ranked 36th and 62nd, respectively. But those low rankings probably don’t matter much to either of them: Both the Cavaliers and Red Raiders are playing for their first ever championship on Monday night.
RANK SCHOOL VALUATION 1-YR VALUE CHANGE
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| 1 | University of Kentucky | $334,220,000 | 35.50% | | 2 | University of Kansas | $319,470,000 | 67.10% | | 3 | University of Louisville | $238,400,000 | 2.00% | | 4 | Duke University | $201,500,000 | 18.70% | | 5 | Indiana University | $196,200,000 | -19.30% | | 6 | Syracuse University | $162,980,000 | 9.00% | | 7 | University of North Carolina | $145,350,000 | 22.30% | | 8 | University of California-Los Angeles | $138,390,000 | 43.10% | | 9 | University of Arizona | $137,380,000 | 2.60% | | 10 | University of Wisconsin | $131,800,000 | -18.00% | | 11 | University of Illinois | $125,860,000 | 24.90% | | 12 | Purdue University | $124,670,000 | 20.70% | | 13 | Ohio State University | $117,330,000 | -18.10% | | 14 | Northwestern University | $115,670,000 | 15.60% | | 15 | University of Arkansas | $113,560,000 | 15.60% | | 16 | University of Minnesota | $106,850,000 | 16.90% | | 17 | University of Michigan | $102,570,000 | 7.50% | | 18 | University of Dayton | $100,010,000 | 18.40% | | 19 | University of Maryland | $99,640,000 | -24.40% | | 20 | Michigan State University | $97,290,000 | 42.50% | | 21 | University of Nebraska | $88,720,000 | 90.90% | | 22 | University of Texas | $86,240,000 | 11.90% | | 23 | Florida State University | $79,810,000 | 73.70% | | 24 | University of Alabama | $79,570,000 | 6.50% | | 25 | University of Tennessee | $74,550,000 | 0.50% | | 26 | Marquette University | $72,400,000 | 4.50% | | 27 | Stanford University | $71,880,000 | 72.50% | | 28 | Villanova University | $71,080,000 | 64.90% | | 29 | University of Missouri-Columbia | $70,490,000 | 54.50% | | 30 | Clemson University | $69,580,000 | 19.80% | | 31 | Iowa State University | $68,550,000 | 9.10% | | 32 | Arizona State University | $67,550,000 | 41.40% | | 33 | Oklahoma State University | $66,650,000 | -2.30% | | 34 | North Carolina State University | $66,400,000 | 15.60% | | 35 | Gonzaga University | $66,120,000 | 37.80% | | 36 | University of Virginia | $64,040,000 | 28.60% | | 37 | Kansas State University | $61,970,000 | 10.30% | | 38 | Xavier University | $61,870,000 | 3.30% | | 39 | University of Washington | $61,820,000 | -3.70% | | 40 | University of Florida | $61,100,000 | -27.80% | | 41 | University of Iowa | $59,670,000 | -6.50% | | 42 | University of California-Berkeley | $59,600,000 | 22.00% | | 43 | University of South Carolina | $59,480,000 | -6.70% | | 44 | Brigham Young University | $59,300,000 | 62.20% | | 45 | University of Oklahoma | $58,260,000 | 0.10% | | 46 | Texas Christian University | $56,390,000 | 42.00% | | 47 | Virginia Tech | $52,040,000 | 37.50% | | 48 | University of Colorado | $50,980,000 | 11.90% | | 49 | Virginia Commonwealth University | $50,520,000 | -4.50% | | 50 | Georgetown University | $50,270,000 | -13.90% | | 51 | Pennsylvania State University | $50,240,000 | -19.60% | | 52 | Auburn University | $49,950,000 | 10.00% | | 53 | University of Pittsburgh | $49,160,000 | -19.00% | | 54 | University of Memphis | $48,100,000 | 15.70% | | 55 | Texas A & M University | $46,670,000 | 8.40% | | 56 | Providence College | $46,000,000 | 40.30% | | 57 | University of Mississippi | $45,480,000 | -4.20% | | 58 | Wichita State University | $43,810,000 | 14.10% | | 59 | Butler University | $43,470,000 | 31.80% | | 60 | Vanderbilt University | $41,440,000 | -7.00% | | 61 | University of Oregon | $41,150,000 | 8.90% | | 62 | Texas Tech University | $40,290,000 | 17.80% | | 63 | San Diego State University | $39,520,000 | 27.80% | | 64 | St John's University | $38,460,000 | -13.30% | | 65 | Louisiana State University | $38,040,000 | 4.20% | | 66 | University of Georgia | $37,640,000 | -28.50% | | 67 | Creighton University | $37,470,000 | 19.30% | | 68 | DePaul University | $36,450,000 | 23.20% | | 69 | University of Utah | $35,860,000 | 13.90% | | 70 | Wake Forest University | $35,190,000 | 2.60% | | 71 | Mississippi State University | $35,150,000 | -6.10% | | 72 | University of Connecticut | $34,740,000 | -52.50% | | 73 | West Virginia University | $32,650,000 | -2.60% | | 74 | Rutgers University | $32,560,000 | 4.90% | | 75 | Baylor University | $31,900,000 | -7.20% | | 76 | University of Cincinnati | $31,260,000 | 0.80% | | 77 | Georgia Tech | $29,820,000 | 7.90% | | 78 | Saint Louis University | $29,800,000 | 23.30% | | 79 | Oregon State University | $29,220,000 | 11.10% | | 80 | Southern Methodist University | $28,880,000 | 2.70% | | 81 | Colorado State University | $28,180,000 | 51.10% | | 82 | University of Houston | $27,520,000 | 12.00% | | 83 | University of Miami | $27,510,000 | -45.90% | | 84 | Boston College | $27,250,000 | -8.40% | | 85 | University of Nevada-Las Vegas | $26,450,000 | 2.10% | | 86 | Temple University | $25,250,000 | 12.20% | | 87 | Seton Hall University | $24,960,000 | 2.80% | | 88 | Loyola University Chicago | $23,720,000 | 115.60% | | 89 | University of Southern California | $23,700,000 | 13.60% | | 90 | University of South Florida | $22,740,000 | -40.10% | | 91 | University of Nevada-Reno | $22,690,000 | -15.90% | | 92 | Washington State University | $22,380,000 | -4.40% | | 93 | University of Tulsa | $22,040,000 | -3.30% | | 94 | University of New Mexico | $20,960,000 | -2.40% | | 95 | Boise State University | $20,240,000 | 24.10% | | 96 | Davidson College | $19,170,000 | 58.10% | | 97 | Tulane University | $17,630,000 | 21.90% | | 98 | George Mason University | $17,460,000 | 5.00% | | 99 | University of Central Florida | $17,110,000 | 0.00% | | 100 | University of Massachusetts-Amherst | $16,360,000 | -13.50% |
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