The Value of Wyoming Cowboy Football… [AUDIO]

Imagine if you will, that every college football program in America, were to be valued, and then sold much like a for-profit business; what would you be willing to pay for a school such as... the University of Wyoming?

In a recent story published by the Indianapolis Business Journal by Anthony Schoettle, based on research from Indiana University finance professor Ryan Brewer, these values have been established.

The study was conducted over a two-year period and gave valuations to college football programs, similar to the type of values a financial analyst would give to a typical business.

Though the process to determine the total values was extensive and not described with depth in Schoettle's online list of school values, he did say in a recent interview on Sportsline Live that some of the factors that played a part were attendance, expenses, conference revenue, profits, etc.

On the list, which only consisted of public schools, Wyoming Cowboy football was slated 53 out of 100, with an overall value of $24.7 million dollars.  Below Wyoming on the list, #54 was the Florida State football program.

Schoettle said that much of the reason Wyoming's value was so substantial was that the program steadily makes around $9 million, while the expenses are typically around $6 million, among other factors.

The only conference team ahead of Wyoming was Boise State, ranked 40 with a value of $64.8 million.

The University of Texas topped the list with a valuation of $848.3 million.  Wyoming's rival Colorado State found themselves in a group of 21 at the bottom of the list with a valuation of $0 because they do not have sufficient cash flow.  Eight schools earned negative valuations.

The list of 100 schools can be found here and Schoettle said on SLL that if you e-mail him through the link on the article page, he will e-mail his article explaining the Brewer's processes to valuate the programs.