Exploring the most profitable college athletic departments: Where does Ohio State, Alabama, and Georgia rank on the list?

Having a profitable college athletic department means that the program has developed into a solid culture and the biggest sports (men's college basketball and football) are thriving to balance out some books. It also helps to not have many coaches being fired lately as their salaries go against the books as an extra expense.

Looking at the list for 2022, there are some names that you'd expect to be at the top of the list, but there are some notable exclusions, as well. It is also important to note that being profitable does not mean the most profit.

Below is a table of the 10 most profitable college athletic departments for 2022.

School	Total Revenue	Total Expenses	Profit
Indiana	$166,761,471	$132,932,596	$34,368,875
Georgia	$203,048,566	$169,026,503	$34,022,063
Ohio State	$251,615,345	$225,733,418	$251881,927
Auburn	$174,568,442	$151,590,763	$22,977,679
Purdue	$115,139,432	$93,025,810	$22,113,622
Central Florida	$89,228,205	$69,099,289	$20,128,916
Kansas State	$100,822,204	$82,220,606	$18,601,598
Alabama	$214,365,357	$195,881,911	$18,483,446
Michigan	$210,652,287	$193,559,375	$17,092,912
Illinois	$145,735,330	$129,119,247	$16,616,083

What makes a profitable college athletic department and why aren't some big names on the list?

Having a profitable college athletic department is tougher for some colleges than it is for others. One main reason is the coaches' salaries. Take Nick Saban as an example. He is paid $10.7 million for the season. That means the University of Alabama has an expense of $10.7 million based on Saban's salary alone. That puts the college athletic department behind the eight-ball in an attempt to draw a profit.

If the program decides to fire a coach, that money is also earmarked as an expense as they will have to pay out the coach's salary, as well as hire the next coach for their program. The athletic department of any university is going to know where every dollar is spent. Everything is going to play a factor from money for parking at the stadium for a football game to tickets for a women's soccer game and everything in between.

Having a dominant football program, like the Georgia Bulldogs, definitely has its perks. As one of the biggest sports, it drives revenue to the college athletic department. It makes a lot of sense as Sanford Stadium can hold 90,000 people for a single game, so imagine the ticket revenue they can get for it, as well as concessions, parking, etc.

Not seeing schools like the University of Texas or UCLA is a little shocking as they have the historical aspect attached to them. Now, getting money into a university can also create more money to attract NIL deals, so do not be shocked if donors are being called right now to try to get a few more dollars out of them before these sports to begin.