Most valuable College Basketball Programs.

[h4]1. University of North Carolina, Tar Heels[/h4]
Value: $26.0 million
Profit: $16.9 million
Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Roy Williams

Tar Heels season ticket holders donated a total of $5.3 million to the athletic department's booster club last year to secure the right to buy tickets.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

[h4]2. University of Kentucky, Wildcats[/h4]
Value: $24.9 million
Profit: $15.4 million
Conference: SEC
Head Coach: Billy Gillispie

Kentucky's basketball program accounts for 70% of the athletic department's 10-year, $80 million multi-media deal with IMG College Sports.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

[h4]3. University of Louisville, Cardinals[/h4]
Value: $24.4 million
Profit: $17.1 million
Conference: Big East
Head Coach: Rick Pitino

The Cardinals had the highest revenue ($23.2 million) and greatest profit of any college basketball program last year.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Arizonaathletics.com

[h4]4. University of Arizona, Wildcats[/h4]
Value: $22.7 million
Profit: $13.2 million
Conference: Pac 10
Head Coach: Lute Olson*

Securing a pair of courtside seats at Arizona's McKale Center for the entire season requires a donation to the athletics department of up to $40,000.

*Kevin O'Neill has assumed head coaching responsibilities while Olson is on leave during the 2007-2008 season.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

[h4]5. Duke University, Blue Devils[/h4]
Value: $22.6 million
Profit: $11.1 million
Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski

Basketball Hall of Famer Coach K is serving double duty: drawing up X's and O's for both Duke and the U.S. National Team heading to the Beijing Olympics next summer.

[emoji]169[/emoji] AP Photo/Bob Child

[h4]6. University of Indiana, Hoosiers[/h4]
Value: $19.4 million
Profit: $13.5 million
Conference: BigTen
Head Coach: Kelvin Sampson

Hoosier Hysteria is as strong as ever with Indiana earning a $13.5 million profit last year, including donations for season ticket reservations.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

[h4]6. University of Illinois, Fighting Illini[/h4]
Value: $19.4 million
Profit: $12.2 million
Conference: BigTen
Head Coach: Bruce Weber

Last year, the Illinois Athletic Department generated $1.3 million in advertising and sponsorship revenue from basketball games broadcast on the athletic department-owned Illini Sports Radio Network.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

[h4]8. University of Kansas, Jayhawks[/h4]
Value: $16.0 million
Profit: $8.3 million
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Bill Self

A $65 million, 10-year multi-media deal with Host Communications (now IMG College Sports) signed in April will be a boon to the team's value.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

[h4]9. University of Wisconsin, Badgers[/h4]
Value: $15.7 million
Profit: $9.6 million
Conference: BigTen
Head Coach: Bo Ryan

The Badgers generated almost $15 million in revenue last year en route to their 9th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

[h4]10. Ohio State University, Buckeyes[/h4]
Value: $15.3 million
Profit: $8.9 million
Conference: BigTen
Head Coach: Thad Matta

Ohio State is the only athletic department in the nation that can lay claim to having a team in the top 10 in Forbes' college basketball and college football rankings.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

[h4]11. University of Texas, Longhorns[/h4]
Value: $15.0 million
Profit: $8.2 million
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Rick Barnes

At $1 million last year, Longhorns men's basketball is responsible for more donations to academics than any other hoops team in the Big 12.

[emoji]169[/emoji] AP Photo/L.G. Patterson

[h4]12. University of Missouri, Tigers[/h4]
Value: $14.5 million
Profit: $9.8 million
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Mike Anderson

Priority ticket donations for Mizzou basketball totaled $4.3 million last season, nine times more than football.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Doug Benc/Getty Images

[h4]13. North Carolina State University, Wolfpack[/h4]
Value: $13.6 million
Profit: $7.9 million
Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Sidney Lowe

Lowe, a former NBA head coach, took the reigns of his alma mater last year and promptly beat state-rivals Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest for the first time in 4 years.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

[h4]13. University of California Los Angeles, Bruins[/h4]
Value: $13.6 million
Profit: $7.0 million
Conference: Pac 10
Head Coach: Ben Howland

The most storied team in college hoops saw operating income increase 14% last season with a berth in their second consecutive Final Four.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

[h4]15. Oklahoma State University, Cowboys[/h4]
Value: $13.5 million
Profit: $8.7 million
Conference: Big 12
Head Coach: Sean Sutton

Sutton's appointment as head coach last year had to first be approved by billionaire donor T. Boone Pickens, whose gifts to OSU athletics total an estimated $242 million since 2003.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

[h4]16. Michigan State University, Spartans[/h4]
Value: $13.4 million
Profit: $6.8 million
Conference: BigTen
Head Coach: Tom Izzo

Spartans basketball made $6.8 million last season after being over $1 million in the red the year before because of a hefty bonus paid to Izzo.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Doug Benc/Getty Images

[h4]17. University of Maryland, Terrapins[/h4]
Value: $13.1 million
Profit: $7.3 million
Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Gary Williams

A Terrapins ticket is perhaps toughest to come by in all of college hoops, as only students and season ticket holders fill the 17,950-seat Comcast Center on game day.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Ned Dishman/Getty Images

[h4]18. Syracuse University, Orange[/h4]
Value: $12.7 million
Profit: $7.0 million
Conference: Big East
Head Coach: Jim Boeheim

With 473,353 total spectators, more fans packed the Carrier Dome than any venue in college basketball last season.

[emoji]169[/emoji] AP Photo/April L. Brown

[h4]19. University of Arkansas, Razorbacks[/h4]
Value: $12.6 million
Profit: $9.2 million
Conference: SEC
Head Coach: John Pelphrey

At 16,822 per game, Arkansas had the highest average attendance in the SEC West Division last year.

[emoji]169[/emoji] Josh Duncan/GoXavier.com

[h4]20. Xavier University, Musketeers[/h4]
Value: $10.7 million
Profit: $6.3 million
Conference: Atlantic 10
Head Coach: Sean Miller

The Musketeers are the most valuable mid-major basketball program in the country, due in large part to its lucrative seat licensing program.

Forbes Sports Values
The Most Valuable College Basketball Teams
Peter J. Schwartz 01.02.08, 12:00 PM ET


Highway I-40, known as Tobacco Road, connects the universities of North Carolina, Duke and North Carolina State. These schools sit within a 25 mile radius of each other in a region where college basketball is religion. The passion that their students, alumni and sponsors have for college basketball translates into an abundance of riches for these universities, making their men's basketball programs extremely valuable, according to Forbes' first ranking of college hoops teams. Just how much are these "amateur" basketball teams worth?

The North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team is the most valuable in the country, worth $26 million. We base our valuations on what the basketball programs contribute to four important beneficiaries: their university (money generated by basketball that goes to the institution for academic purposes, including scholarship payments for basketball players); athletic department (the net profit generated by the basketball program retained by the department); conference (the distribution of tournament revenue); and local communities (incremental spending by visitors to the county during the regular season that's attributable to the program).

Last season the Tar Heels posted a $16.9 million profit and, thanks in part to a lucrative merchandising agreement with Nike (nyse: http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=NKE]NKE[/url] - http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=NKE]news[/url] - http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=NKE]people[/url] ), contributed $800,000 to the university for academics. With Michael Jordan's jersey hanging from the Dean Smith Center's rafters and the basketball team a perennial contender for the national championship, basketball is the cornerstone of the university's athletic department.

Duke is the fifth most valuable team, worth $22.6 million. The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau estimates total spending by visitors to Duke Blue Devils men's home games last season topped $11.2 million--more than any other basketball program in the country. Duke's success (three national titles during the past 17 years) has enabled head coach Mike Krzyzewski to become a brand unto himself, appearing in commercials for American Express (nyse: http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=AXP]AXP[/url] - http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=AXP]news[/url] - http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=AXP]people[/url] ) and Chevrolet, a division of General Motors (nyse: http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=GM]GM[/url] - http://www.forbes.com/markets/company_news.jhtml?ticker=GM]news[/url] - http://www.forbes.com/peopletracker/results.jhtml?startRow=0&name=&ticker=GM]people[/url] ). Rivals complain Coach K's commercial success is an unfair recruiting advantage.

NC State's basketball program, ranked 13th, is worth $13.6 million. With expenses of only $3.1 million, the lowest of any team on our list, the NC State Wolfpack earned a profit of $7.9 million last season. In his first year with the Wolfpack, former NBA head coach Sidney Lowe led his alma mater to victories over Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest University, marking the first time in four years that NC State beat all three in-state opponents during the same season.

Captured in our valuations are mandatory donations required by some athletic departments in order to be eligible to purchase season tickets (often hidden within athletic department accounting). These "gifts" add up: the University of Louisville's basketball team, the most profitable in the country, raked in $10.5 million last season from contributions directly tied to premium seating. Valued at $24.4 million, Louisville's basketball team is ranked third on our list. State rival University of Kentucky generated $7 million through 7,000 premium seats at Rupp Arena before a single ticket was even sold. Placing second, the Kentucky program is worth $24.9 million.

There is less wealth disparity among the top college basketball teams than the top football teams mainly because television money is more evenly distributed in basketball. The 20 most valuable teams span seven conferences, and include one team from the mid-major Atlantic 10. Xavier University, a private institution in Cincinnati with only 3,360 undergraduate students, can boast having a basketball team worth $10.7 million--largely as a result of personal seat licenses reaping almost $4 million in annual revenue. Compare that with football (see http://www.forbes.com/sportsbusiness/2007/11/20/notre-dame-fooball-biz-sports-cx_ps_1120collegeball.html]"The Most Valuable College Football Teams"[/url]), where teams from the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 dominate our list.

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[emoji]169[/emoji] Arizonaathletics.com

[h4]4. University of Arizona, Wildcats[/h4]
Value: $22.7 million
Profit: $13.2 million
Conference: Pac 10
Head Coach: Lute Olson*

Securing a pair of courtside seats at Arizona's McKale Center for the entire season requires a donation to the athletics department of up to $40,000.

*Kevin O'Neill has assumed head coaching responsibilities while Olson is on leave during the 2007-2008 season.

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[h4]10. Ohio State University, Buckeyes[/h4]
Value: $15.3 million
Profit: $8.9 million
Conference: BigTen
Head Coach: Thad Matta

Ohio State is the only athletic department in the nation that can lay claim to having a team in the top 10 in Forbes' college basketball and college football rankings.

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A Terrapins ticket is perhaps toughest to come by in all of college hoops, as only students and season ticket holders fill the 17,950-seat Comcast Center on game day

I hate this about UMD.

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Originally Posted by kingkb34

[h4]10. Ohio State University, Buckeyes[/h4]
Value: $15.3 million
Profit: $8.9 million
Conference: BigTen
Head Coach: Thad Matta

Ohio State is the only athletic department in the nation that can lay claim to having a team in the top 10 in Forbes' college basketball and college football rankings.

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Originally Posted by Fanatic15

I didn't think we'd be on this list. The way it looks around here Basketball isn't all that profitable, but after seeing the football thread I realize they dwarf the basketball team, which is what my comparisons come from.

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Originally Posted by wildKYcat

Originally Posted by Fanatic15

I didn't think we'd be on this list. The way it looks around here Basketball isn't all that profitable, but after seeing the football thread I realize they dwarf the basketball team, which is what my comparisons come from.

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by "here" did you mean Texas? i'm not sure if you noticed, but it's not just Texas who's football team "dwarfs" their basketball program.

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Originally Posted by K8be wan Kenobi

I hate this about UMD.

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