If I were a rich Big Ten program, na, na, na, na, na

The 2021 football season was the bounce-back from the pandemic. Stadiums were full, rosters were unencumbered by COVID pauses, life was good.

Very good for Big Ten programs that suddenly proved quite a bit fiscally healthier than the doom-&-gloom forecasts of various university administrators — cough-Barry Alvarez-cough — and some of the same people who would have you believe NIL and the transfer portal have left the industry on the precipice of ruin.

These are the facts that reflect that season. They are revenue figures of Big Ten athletic departments for fiscal 2021-22, provided annually as required by the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act and mandated by the U.S. Department of Education. They are roughly parallel in their compilation, though some schools vary their methods and use a little “creative bookkeeping.” They include only internally generated revenue, not annual payouts from the conference’s abundant TV/​streaming contract.

The main figure in the heading indicates gross revenue generated by football programs before expenses, and that’s how the list is ranked. I’ve added football profit margins and various revenue factoids from other sports (MBB stands for men’s basketball; WBB for women’s basketball).

But the list itself is all about football, because that’s the game that attracts by far the greatest profit at every university, the cash that’s spread around to all the other sports except for men’s basketball which is commonly the only other profit-maker.

For fair comparison’s sake, I’ll stack up these figures against not the COVID-pocked 2020-21 fiscal year but rather the previous one of 2019-20.

So, here we go, bottom to top, rich, richer, richest in the nation’s most affluent conference…

14. Rutgers $44.0 million

Ahh, yes, another year of indeterminate deficit for the only Big Ten school that cooks its books. Rutgers has been running in the red on football pretty much since it entered the league nine years ago and probably far prior.

But we can’t tell you exactly how far in the red because they always submit an artificially balanced budget. Revenues and expenses are listed as the exact same figure: $43,987,227. Which is a dead giveaway that the real revenue figure is lower and is being made up through other university funds. RU football is making some headway. The $44M gross revenue figure is 33% higher than the last pre-COVID figure ($32.9M in 2019-20).

13. Maryland $53.2 million

The Terrapins had their first winning season in seven years in 2021, not to mention a dynamite home schedule that included West Virginia, Iowa, Penn State and Michigan (though only four Big Ten visitors). So the $22.4 million football profit actually could have been better.

But Maryland always has been a basketball school, so here’s the stunner: MBB posted a $2.8M loss in the final squalid season of the Mark Turgeon regime. I can’t ever recall a Big Ten men’s basketball program posting a loss. I know Rutgers basketball several times has run an unspecified deficit, but didn’t post it. Maryland did.

11. Northwestern $58.9 million

Five Big Ten opponents visited, the Wildcats had seven total home dates and it still didn’t matter. Because this was a 3-9 season that felt like a re-entry to the Dark Ages of the early ’80s. Northwestern only once attracted more than 32,000 in announced (paid) attendance (38,141 for Iowa) and made only $26M in football profit.

10. Indiana $59.9 million

A nosedive to 2-10 (0-9 Big Ten) from the surprising 6-2 COVID season befitted the Hoosiers’ so-so gross figure and $28.2M profit. At least MBB returned its dependable $10.1 million in the black.

9. Purdue $62.5 million

The Boilermakers continued to reflect the steady rebuild under the since-departed Jeff Brohm with steady revenue gains. The gross figure represents a 20% rise over 2019-20 as does the $36.7 million profit. What will happen since Brohm departed to Louisville is anyone’s guess. Men’s basketball did a healthy $10.1 million profit,

8. Illinois $63.2 million

By my sense, Illinois always has had the most underrated fan base in the Big Ten. Give them a product and they turn out. This was the first year of the Bret Bielema revival, so he didn’t have a lot to work with. The Illini finished 5-7 (4-5 Big Ten) and the highlight of the season was a road win at Penn State. Still, football turned a $34.2 million profit. Meanwhile Brad Underwood’s men’s basketball squad attracted a substantial $25.7 million gross and flipped a $12.5M profit – the league high for the sport.

7. Minnesota $72.6 million

It’s hard to deny it even if you wanted to — P.J. Fleck, carnival barker he may be, has ignited interest for Gophers football in the Twin Cities and across the state. The program’s gross revenue represents a 17% jump from the Cinderella season of 2019-20. The $33.8 million profit was $6.2 million above that fiscal year.

6. Iowa $86.2 million

Kirk Ferentz’s team started 6-0 and won the West before getting bludgeoned 42-3 by Michigan in Indy. Still, there seems to be a fiscal statis with the gross up only a smidge up from 2019 and the 37.0 million football profit representing a slight decline. Caitlin Clark-mania already was in full throttle among the state’s sizable women’s basketball fan base as the Hawkeyes ladies tied for the Big Ten title. Though the women’s basketball program made a league-high of just under $2 milliion gross, it burned through just under $ million in expenses and took a loss of more than $4M.

5. Wisconsin $88.7 million

Even though the Badgers got off to a slow start, losing to Penn State, Notre Dame and Michigan in the first four weeks, they went to the final Saturday with a chance to take the West — but lost at Minnesota. It was a disappointing season as the Badgers were favored in all 13 games and yet finished 9-4. UW fans still whirred the turnstiles to the tune of a whopping $58.1M football profit.

4. Michigan State $95.1 million

MSU made the most remarkable revenue ascent of anyone in the league and it makes sense that it dovetailed with the Spartans’ 11-2 season in Mel Tucker’s second year in East Lansing. The gross revenue figure is a whopping 38% leap over Mark Dantonio’s final dreary season of 2019 ($68.9 million). The $47.7 million football profit practically doubled the $25.9M produced in 2019. Men’s basketball took in a $26.3M gross (Big Ten high) and a $9.6 million profit.

4. Nebraska $95.9 million

Joke if you must about Scott Frost, but Huskers football fans are nothing if not loyal. Even while Frost’s team was bumbling through an astoundingly bad 3-9 (1-8 Big Ten) season, the program was turning a monumental $62.9 million profit. Measured against a frugal $33 million in expenses, this represented the highest profit margin and the most efficient moneymaker program in the league.

3. Penn State $107.1 million

Penn State keeps churning upward in revenue take. The gross represents an incremental increase over 2019 ($101.7 million). The real news of the gross figure is that it gained substantially on Ohio State and got PSU to within drafting distance of the second-place Buckeyes. Penn State’s $53.6 million profit (on expenses of $53.5 million) was not only a tick upward from 2019-20 but quite a bit higher than Ohio State’s commensurate figure ($40 million).

In Micah Shrewsberry’s first season, men’s basketball attracted a modest $12 million gross and $3.4 million profit. Women’s basketball delivered a $1.7 million gross and a $3.3 million deficit.

2. Ohio State $109.2 million

The most stunning figure on OSU’s ledger wasn’t the gross revenue which was actually slightly off from 2019-20 ($115.5 million); it was the staggering $69.1 million in football expenses, highest in the league by a lot. Chris Holtmann’s men’s basketball program did quite well, logging a $23.6 gross and $11.7 million profit (second in the conference to only Illinois).

1. Michigan $131.4 million

Meanwhile, Michigan just keeps opening its lead. The gross revenue figure is another new record. The massive football profit of $79 million is just off the $81.4 million record of 2017-18. This was, of course, the breakthrough season of 2021 when Jim Harbaugh finally found a way to beat Ohio State after nearly departing the previous winter. Juwan Howard’s men’s basketball program cleared a $10.4M profit. Women’s basketball ran $4.3M in the red.