Iowa Basketball: It’s Good To Be B1G

Forbes released its annual list of the top 20 most valuable men’s college basketball programs, and nearly half of them are Big 10 schools.

While Iowa basketball doesn’t appear on the list, this is still great news for the Hawkeye men’s team. It demonstrates once again that there are huge benefits to being a member of the Big 10.

Indiana is the first Big 10 team to appear on the list, ranking fourth. Following the Hoosiers in order are Ohio State (seventh), Wisconsin (ninth), Michigan State (12th), Maryland (13th), Illinois (14th), Northwestern (15th) and Michigan (16th).

Main author Chris Smith explains how Forbes configures its ranking:

"To figure out our list of the sport’s most valuable programs we look at three key areas for which college basketball’s top teams generate value: their universities, athletic departments and conferences. University value comes from academic spending, including both player scholarships and other university support, while value to the athletic department is measured by the basketball team profits that go toward funding non-revenue sports like swimming or softball. Lastly, conference value comes from success in the NCAA Tournament; every non-championship tournament game played grants a team’s conference a “unit” that earns an annual payout over a six-year period."

There are a few factors leading to Iowa’s failure to crack this list. Scott Dochterman reported that Iowa athletics showed a budget shortfall of $3.24 million in fiscal year 2015, and that revenue across the board was down for the athletics program in FY2015.

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While there was a negative cash flow for Iowa athletics last fiscal year, it wasn’t because of a lack of contributions from the Big 10. The conference and other NCAA sources contributed $33.3 million in revenue to Iowa athletics, which was a $4.4 million increase from FY2014.

Smith goes on in the Forbes piece to explain why the Big 10 is doing so well.

"The Big Ten’s dominance of the list is hardly a surprise. The conference has been among the most successful on the court – only the American Athletic Conference typically earns greater NCAA Tournament distributions – and a recent report from UNC, a perennial hoops powerhouse, even uses the Big Ten as a benchmark for financial success."

The ACC has more of a presence at the top – four of the top 10 are from the ACC – but the conference is extremely top-heavy in the financial sense. No other conference in men’s college basketball has the distribution of wealth and depth of financial health that the Big 10 has. In terms of what really matters, winning on the bottom line, the Big 10 is king.

Next: March Madness: Previewing the South Region

It’s good to be B1G.