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Christopher Boan is a writer with BetTexas.com, covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
CFB NIL Deals vs. Team Records: How the Top 10 Biggest Earners Stack Up
For the first time in 16 years, the Texas Longhorns are the top ranked team in the nation, as Steve Sarkisian’s squad is officially No. 1 in the weekly AP top 25 poll after routing Colorado State, Michigan and UTSA to open the year across Texas sports betting.
The last time Texas held onto that top spot in the AP poll was Oct. 26, 2008, when UT was 8-0 and fresh off a 28-24 win over No. 7 Oklahoma State in a year where the Horns won the Fiesta Bowl by a 24-21 final score over Ohio State.
This year, the Longhorns hold the third best CFP title odds on Bet365 at +500, ranking behind Georgia (+320) and Ohio State (+350), while placing ahead of Alabama (+900), Oregon (+1100) and Ole Miss (+1200).
One factor in Texas' resurgence? NIL - deals that have changed the landscape for college football in the U.S. At BetTexas.com, we wanted to see how the top 10 teams with the largest total NIL sums do in comparison to each other based on team records from the entire 2023-24 season and this season’s games as of Sept. 17.
We used On3.com to collect the top 100 highest paid college football players based on NIL money and added up all deals by team. Using Sports-Reference.com, we found the combined record for each team. Final rankings account for the average ranking placement for NIL money and team records.
How The Top 10 CFB NIL Earners Perform
Rank | Team (NIL $) | Average Ranking |
1 | Texas Longhorns ($2.917M) | 2.5 |
2 | Alabama Crimson Tide ($1.462M) | 3 |
3 | Oregon Ducks ($2.154M) | 3.5 |
T4 | Georgia Bulldogs ($1.428) | 4 |
T4 | Ohio State Buckeyes ($4.344M) | 4 |
6 | Colorado Buffaloes ($4.013M) | 5.5 |
7 | Ole Miss Rebels ($1.393M) | 7 |
T8 | LSU Tigers ($2.055M) | 7.5 |
T8 | Miami Hurricanes ($2.050M) | 7.5 |
10 | Tennessee Volunteers ($1.437M) | 8.5 |
Where UT Ranks in NIL Value
Across the country, no CFB team has the combination of NIL money and success that the Longhorns do right now, with an On3.com valuation of $2.917 million and the top spot in the most recent AP poll, producing an average ranking of 2.5.
Texas ranked ahead of Alabama ($1.462 million valuation and 3 ranking), Oregon ($2.154 million valuation and 3.5 average ranking), Georgia ($1.428 million valuation and 4 ranking) and Ohio State ($4.344 million valuation and 4 ranking) rounded out the national CFB NIL top five.
Throw in Colorado ($4.013 million valuation and 5.5 ranking), Ole Miss ($1.393 million valuation and 7 ranking), LSU ($2.055 million valuation and 7.5 ranking) and Miami ($2.050 million valuation and 7.5 ranking) and Tennessee ($1.437 million valuation and 8.5 ranking) were the other teams to crack the top 10 nationally.
On the field, Sarkisian and the Longhorns should breeze to 4-0 for the year when they play their final non-conference game against Louisiana-Monroe in Austin on Saturday, with Bet365 listing UT as a 44-point home favorite in the 8 p.m. local time kickoff in the Lone Star State.
USA Today photo by Scott Wachter.
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