Ryan Day and Ohio State endured a lot of dirt in 2024 and threw it back right in the faces of the critics as they walked out of the Mercedes-Benz stadium with a Natty in their hand. As fanatical as it sounds. The trophy came off as a momentary relief to Day after dragging a lot of hatred (even to the extreme of getting death threats) after his fourth straight Michigan loss. It is wise to call it momentary only, as it is narrowly followed up by a mass exodus of players and coaches of the program, leaving a lot of ifs and buts for the coming year. Finally, the Buckeyes again rose to the headlines and, for a good season.
There has been significant talk about the SEC and Big 10 dominating the financial scale of the CFB platform, especially after Power Two championed a new proposed idea for the CFP expansion. So, it’s not a surprise that Ohio State will emerge as a market-dominating force in terms of net worth. However, having been named officially the highest value program out of all the conferences, nonconference power seems like an extra feather to the franchise’s cap. Ohio State currently flaunts a valuation of $1.9 billion to leave all other prominent competitors like Texas and Michigan behind in a compelling superiority race.
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Some breathing room for Ryan Day, who had enough hard luck losing both of his offensive and defensive coordinators, Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles, to the fellow powerhouses weeks back and had to go for a strong coaching reshuffling on the championship-winning team. Amidst all the frowns and doubts that surround the crucial post-championship year under Day, the sweet solace is they have money, at least.
But did the big money anyway dim the hsine of their forst ever national championship in a decade? Well, the answer demands a deeper analysis.
Ohio State vested $274.9 million on athletics in 2022-23, according to data in Sportico’s college finance database, by far the most among all public schools. Texas stood second in the chart bpasting a whooping $232.3 million, followed by Michigan at $225.6 million.
Now, coming to the most crucial question, how much does its financial soundness helped the Buckeyes to win a Natty? People have been debating over this million dolalr question over social media for over a few months. But on a realistic note, before the season kicked off Athletic director Bjork told Yahoo Sports that the each player pf the programe were supposed to drag “around $20 million” via NIL deals from the Buckeyes’ donor-led collective and its affiliates. Now, it’s very obvious that the money lure palyed a role in the Buckeyes’ high flying roster building and helped garnting them the best fecilities and coaching, leading to a semaless excution of their goal.
After all, they holds the highest figure in the country. As we have seen seen, throughout the season the number apraked a mix bag reaction from all the section of the communitu. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban made a hilarious joke on an ESPN broadcast in August; Washington coach Jedd Fischaddressed it with an air of jealousy and during a press conference in October. So, it’s evident the money is rolling high at Austin, no matter for the good or bad.
