College football has reached the point where a $30 million roster barely raises eyebrows anymore. And now, The Athletic has put an actual price tag on the sport’s biggest brands. No surprise at the top: Texas continues to lead the way at a projected $2.46 billion. On3 highlighted the rankings shortly after the report came out, a number in the same range as the 2020 sale of the New York Mets. That’s not the kind of company college football programs used to keep, but it is now.

Texas didn’t land at No. 1 by accident. The Longhorns have averaged $190 million in football revenue over the last three years, the best mark in the country, even though they weren’t the single biggest earner in any one season. Sitting in one of the nation’s richest recruiting states, backed by heavy athletic department spending, and now playing every Saturday under the SEC spotlight, Texas checks every box that drives these numbers up.

Ironically, the biggest thing missing isn’t money. It’s a recent national championship. That’s why Arch Manning carries so much attention heading into this season. Texas has the resources, the roster, and the spotlight. Now it needs the trophy that turns a financial giant into an undisputed football giant. Still, the rankings also show Texas isn’t running away from everyone.

Texas isn’t running away from the field, either. Ohio State sits close behind at $2.30 billion, with last year’s title run clearly paying off well beyond the scoreboard. Notre Dame comes in at $2.10 billion on a different formula entirely, built on brand recognition and a long-standing TV deal rather than recent championships. Michigan rounds out the four-team, $2 billion club at an even $2.0 billion, still benefiting from its 2023 title.

That’s where the list starts to separate. Four programs have pulled away from everyone else, and what happens below them is where the rankings get interesting.

Georgia slips, but the SEC still packs the list

Georgia checked in at No. 5 with a projected $1.95 billion, and the headline isn’t the number, it’s the fall. The Bulldogs were No. 2 a year ago at $1.92 billion, and even with their value climbing another $30 million, other programs simply gained more ground. Kirby Smart’s team is also getting further removed from its back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022, and that kind of championship bump tends to fade as the years pass.

Alabama held its ground at No. 6 with a projected $1.80 billion. Oklahoma landed just behind at $1.60 billion, with Tennessee rounding out the SEC’s group in the top 10 at $1.57 billion and Penn State closing out the list at $1.40 billion. Zoom out far enough, and it’s clear the SEC and Big Ten are simply operating on a different financial level than the rest of the sport.

The Athletic built these projections by comparing college programs to professional franchise sales, weighing average revenue against brand strength, demographics, and conference alignment. Nobody’s actually selling Texas or Ohio State, but come Sept. 12, the two most valuable programs on this entire list meet on the field in Austin, in just the second game of Texas’s season.