Rankings

Team NIL Value Rankings 2026: Which Roster Is Worth the Most?

By termiNIL Research Published August 19, 2026 4 min read Model data as of August 3, 2026

The short answer

Oregon has the most valuable roster in college football at an estimated $51.7 million, followed by Texas ($49.8M) and Ohio State ($48.8M). The SEC controls 20.5% of the sport's $3.00 billion modeled NIL market and the Big Ten 19.5%, but the Big Ten's top programs outspend the SEC's at the very top of the board.

Key takeaways

Oregon ($51.7M), Texas ($49.8M) and Ohio State ($48.8M) hold the three most valuable rosters.
The SEC leads all conferences at $615.4M total, but averages $38.5M per team against the Big Ten's $32.6M.
The top four conferences hold 70.5% of all modeled NIL value in college football.
A Power Four roster averages $27.6M-$38.5M; a Group of Five roster averages $9.6M-$13.9M.
Roster value and on-field ranking diverge sharply — expensive is not the same as good.

Program NIL budgets are the most-quoted and least-verified numbers in college football. Everybody has heard a figure for their rival; almost nobody can tell you where it came from.

Roster value is a different measurement, and a more defensible one. Rather than guessing what a collective raised, it prices every player on a roster individually and adds them up. The result answers a cleaner question: what is this team's assembled talent actually worth on the open market?

Which team has the most valuable roster?

Oregon, at an estimated $51.7 million — about $1.9M clear of Texas.

#	Team	Conf	Roster value	Avg/player	Most valuable player
1	Oregon	B1G	$51.7M	$502K	Dante Moore ($6.06M)
2	Texas	SEC	$49.8M	$488K	Arch Manning ($6.21M)
3	Ohio State	B1G	$48.8M	$440K	Julian Sayin ($6.24M)
4	Notre Dame	IND	$46.8M	$434K	CJ Carr ($5.67M)
5	Georgia	SEC	$46.6M	$373K	Gunner Stockton ($5.08M)
6	Texas A&M	SEC	$46.2M	$379K	Marcel Reed ($4.71M)
7	Alabama	SEC	$45.5M	$399K	Keelon Russell ($2.49M)
8	Ole Miss	SEC	$44.4M	$390K	Trinidad Chambliss ($5.78M)
9	Miami	ACC	$44.2M	$387K	Darian Mensah ($5.07M)
10	Oklahoma	SEC	$41.5M	$388K	John Mateer ($2.46M)
11	LSU	SEC	$41.4M	$387K	Sam Leavitt ($3.40M)
12	Indiana	B1G	$41.0M	$419K	Josh Hoover ($4.88M)
13	Texas Tech	B12	$40.6M	$391K	Brendan Sorsby ($5.13M)
14	Michigan	B1G	$40.5M	$371K	Bryce Underwood ($4.47M)
15	Auburn	SEC	$38.7M	$359K	Byrum Brown ($4.33M)

Oregon leads on average value per player as much as on total — $502K against Ohio State's $440K. That is the signature of a roster built expensively all the way down rather than one carrying two enormous valuations on top of ordinary depth.

Alabama is the instructive case at #7. It has the seventh-most valuable roster in the country without a single player above $2.5M. Depth, not stars.

How does NIL value split by conference?

The Power Four holds 70.5% of all modeled NIL value in college football.

Conference	Teams	Total value	Avg per team	Market share
SEC	16	$615.4M	$38.5M	20.5%
Big Ten	18	$586.7M	$32.6M	19.5%
ACC	17	$469.4M	$27.6M	15.6%
Big 12	16	$448.1M	$28.0M	14.9%
American	14	$194.6M	$13.9M	6.5%
Sun Belt	13	$161.0M	$12.4M	5.4%
MAC	13	$125.1M	$9.63M	4.2%
C-USA	11	$120.0M	$10.9M	4.0%
Mountain West	10	$113.7M	$11.4M	3.8%
Pac-12	8	$107.1M	$13.4M	3.6%

The SEC leads on both totals and per-team average. But the Big Ten owns two of the three most valuable rosters, which is the more useful fact: the SEC's advantage is breadth, the Big Ten's is concentration at the top.

The gap that actually defines the sport is not SEC versus Big Ten. It is Power Four versus everyone else. An average SEC roster is worth 4.0x an average MAC roster.

Does an expensive roster mean a good team?

Loosely, and less than you would expect.

Roster value and on-field quality share causes — recruiting, facilities, coaching budgets, exposure — so they move together. But they come apart constantly in the individual case, because valuation prices talent on the market while winning depends on fit, scheme, health, coaching and a schedule.

Indiana at #12 in roster value and Alabama at #7 without a marquee valuation are the two shapes this takes: a program whose value is concentrated in one enormously valuable position, and a program whose value is spread evenly across a deep roster. Those teams cost about the same and are not remotely the same team.

What this measures, and what it doesn't

Roster value is not a program's NIL budget. It is the sum of what the assembled players are worth. A program can field a roster worth $41.4M, as LSU does, while spending well under that — the surplus is what good evaluation and development look like in this market — or spend above it, which is what a bad market looks like.

Every team's full roster, position-group breakdown and per-player valuation is in the termiNIL terminal. The method behind the numbers is in how NIL valuations are calculated.

Frequently asked questions

Which college football team has the most NIL money?

By modeled roster value, Oregon leads at an estimated $51.7 million across its scholarship roster, ahead of Texas at $49.8 million and Ohio State at $48.8 million. This measures the total market value of the players on the roster, which is a different question from what a program's collective has actually raised.

How much is an average college football roster worth?

Across all 138 FBS programs the average roster prices at roughly $21.8 million, but the spread is enormous. SEC rosters average $38.5 million, Big Ten rosters $32.6 million, and MAC rosters $9.6 million.

Which conference has the most NIL value?

The SEC, at $615.4 million in total modeled roster value across 16 teams — 20.5% of the entire FBS market. The Big Ten is close behind at $586.7 million across 18 teams, and leads on the strength of its very top programs.

Does a more expensive roster win more games?

Not reliably. Roster value correlates with recruiting and program resources, both of which correlate with winning, but the relationship is loose enough that several of the most expensive rosters in the sport are not among its best teams. Roster value measures what the players are worth, not how well they fit together or how they are coached.

See every number behind this

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Sources & data

Methodology note. All player valuations on termiNIL are modeled estimates produced by a transparent bottom-up factor model — position base × role × production grade × team × market × social reach. They are not reported salaries, verified contract figures, or statements of fact about any athlete's actual compensation, and they are calibrated on an ongoing basis against confirmed market data. termiNIL is independent and is not affiliated with the NCAA, the College Sports Commission, any school, collective, or agency.

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