It’s no secret that college football is big in the states. So much so that a lot of money is often invested into the teams and the leagues to help achieve success. The Playoffs in the college football scene is also huge. In 2022, the CFP title game averaged around 22.6 millions viewers across ESPN, which isn’t even that high compared to previous title games!
Throughout this article, we will look at some of the FBS college football conferences, with the big ones taking the main focus. You can understand why, when you consider that seven out of the last eight titles were won by colleges that were in the top three for overall spending.
The ACC
While funding has certainly decreased in recent years, most notably in 2021 following the pandemic, it’s fair to say that spending is still high, and is set to increase once more now that colleges and sponsors are more settled. The ACC program is arguably responsible for the biggest amount of spending in this list.
Between 2017 and 2022, high-spenders of the ACC Clemson spent an average of almost $2 million dollars a season, with 2022 being upwards of $3 million dollars! This was by far the most in the division, with the next biggest spenders being North Carolina, who spent less than half of this!
North Carolina upgrading their infrastructure and investing more money needs to be looked at carefully, especially if you are planning on betting on them! You will be able to look at the latest college basketball odds, as well as NFL odds in general, online. This can help put you in a better place to bet on the best franchises around!
Big Ten
Away from the ACC, the Big Ten has also started to ramp up in spending. In particular, it is Michigan that have been spending more on recruiting. As you can see from their back-to-back championships, this money has been invested wily! In 2022, Michigan spent around $2 million, almost double what they were averaged over the last few years.
While Iowa have spent the least, around $500,000, it is still an increase from 2021 and the years before. This shows that teams in the Big Ten aren’t shy to spend to try and reach success. In terms of efficiency, it’s hard to look past Ohio State, who have become one of college football’s biggest money machines in recent history. They are efficient with what they spend, and they enjoy the rewards because of this.
Pac-12
Over at the Pac-12, it’s hard to look past Oregon and Washington in spending. Recent history has spurred them on to invest and achieve further success, but it’s the teams below the top dogs that are interesting.
For example, Arizona have more than doubled their spending recently. This has been something key under new coach Jedd Fisch, and we are seeing some of the best recruitments they’ve had in a long time over there. While Arizona look to climb, it’s Arizona State that sits bottom of this investment ladder, something that is perhaps a direct effect of the violations they committed during the pandemic.
SEC
Now we are starting to ramp up in spending! The SEC is responsible for some of the biggest college football teams around. Georgia spent a lot of money in 2022, over $4.5 million! That’s quite the leap from some of the college outfits we’ve covered. In fact, more than half the teams here have spent over $1 million in the last year, a big increase in averages.
Four of the top five spenders across the states are in this conference, with Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee being at the top. The recruitment classes here will be one to keep an eye on in the next few years, especially if the spending projections continue to increase. You have to feel for Mississippi State, who are bottom of the list here, struggling to keep up with some of the big teams we’ve mentioned.
Big 12
Let’s take things back to the ground with the BIG 12. It’s Oklahoma and Texas that lead the conference in spending here, and their championships speak for themselves. Compared to the SEC, only two teams have spent over $1 million in the last year, and that was Oklahoma and Texas, both spending over $2 million!
While there aren’t as many teams here, the spending averages are still quite moderate, with most over $500,000. It’s Oklahoma State that had the lowest recruitment budget in the conference, but yet they have managed decent pulls, so what do we take away from all this? All in all, talent speaks for itself, and money can only get you so far. Sometimes, a bit of hard work and luck can help moderate college football teams recruit well!
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