Five of the 10-most profitable football programs in college sports are in the Southeastern Conference, but the clubhouse leader may not be the one you think.
USA TODAY's revenue rankings measure an athletics program total earnings. Georgia ranks No. 15 on that list for 2015-16.
Schools ranker College Raptor used financial data from the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons - the most recent available - to rank the most profitable sports teams at colleges and universities. Football ranked first (big surprise there) among all sports.
The most profitable programs generally were indicative that they were competitive and drew large crowds.
SEC schools, with the largest-stadium capacities and faithful followings, outranked most others.
Tennessee, with the second largest stadium in the conference, ranked second overall in the profits scale. Georgia made the biggest profit jump from 10th to 6th in Mark Richt's final season as head coach.
Here are the Top 10 college football programs on the profit scale:
10. Auburn University
2015-16: $48,827,706
2014-15: $50,641,097
Previous rank: 8
9. University of Florida
2015-16: $49,099,589
2014-15: $51,712,680
Previous rank: 7
8. Ohio State University
2015-16: $51,446,665
2014-15: $49,267,915
Previous rank: 9
7. LSU
2015-16: $56,096,682
2014-15: $55,278,259
Previous rank: 6
6. University of Georgia
2015-16: $56,947,313
2014-15: $48,728,201
Previous rank: 10
5. University of Oklahoma
2015-16: $58,028,247
2014-15: $58,287,832
Previous rank: 5
4. University of Michigan
2015-16: $59,626,476
2014-15: $60,552,123
Previous rank: 3
3. University of Notre Dame
2015-16: $63,577,691
2014-15: $59,561,592
Previous rank: 4
2. University of Tennessee
2015-16: $78,073,317
2014-15:$78,944,930
Previous rank: 2
1. University of Texas
2015-16: $97,866,741
2014-15: $97,196,485
Previous rank: 1
For the curious: The Alabama Crimson Tide, which was crowned the national champion of the 2015-16 season, ranked as the 11th most profitable college football program.
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