Sep 21, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers players celebrate with fans after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Pitt, VT, and Other Unexpected Teams Rank Ahead of WVU in The Athletic's Valuations

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Jul 22, 2025 8:42 AM ET

How much would West Virginia's football program sell for if it were a purchasable asset? Well, Matt Baker of The Athletic has the answer. Sort of.

Baker recently projected the valuation of every Power Four school and explained the method behind his calculations.

"Most revenue figures for public schools came from their NCAA financial reports, which we compiled largely through public records requests and schools’ websites. Sportico and the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database filled in a few missing pieces. We also used figures submitted by schools to the U.S. Department of Education. If the two sets of numbers were vastly different, we split the difference. Our final revenues were a three-year average. For SEC and Big Ten teams, we set the multiplier range as 5-13x a program’s revenue. Because the Big 12 and ACC provide less prestige and more uncertainty, we started with a general range of 4-9x for those teams. Our exercise did not address the new annual expense of up to $20.5 million in paying players, which started July 1. We didn’t get into the nitty gritty of assets like stadium values, either."

For West Virginia, he has them at $284 million, which ranks 53rd of the 68 Power Four programs, and 10th in the Big 12, checking in ahead of only Arizona ($282M), Baylor ($276M), UCF ($210M), Kansas ($197M), Cincinnati ($106M), and Houston ($91M).

In some ways, the figure makes sense. The program has a passionate, loyal following, but the size of the fan base (or market) isn't as large as others in the Power Four. But then you start looking at some of the programs ranked ahead of West Virginia, and you begin to scratch your head.

Minnesota (No. 28), Virginia Tech (No. 31), Northwestern (No. 35), Illinois (No. 36), Indiana (No. 38), Purdue (No. 41), Iowa State (No. 45), Syracuse (No. 46), Colorado (No. 47), Duke (No. 48), Pitt (No. 51), and Maryland (No. 52) - these are the ones I have trouble wrapping my head around. Because of the method put into place, those who reside in the Big Ten/SEC will see their valuation inflated, but still...Northwestern? Purdue? Maryland? Really??? I have a hard time believing those programs would sell for more. Dare I mention Pitt? Yeah, I don't think so.

No one truly knows what each program would be worth on the open market, but it could be something we find out soon. At some point, it wouldn't surprise me if we have a Green Bay Packers situation in college sports where fans can become shareholders. WVU AD Wren Baker once brought up the exact topic during an interview with 3 Guys Before the Game.