College Football was an ebb and flow sport for a long time. Winning coaches were needed to hire the right coaching staff and recruit the best-fitting players before forming a culture built on good habits and camaraderie.
Much of that is still true, but institutional support is now the biggest factor in what teams are good and what teams didn’t spend enough to survive. Since 2021, players have been getting paid, and since July 2025, colleges have been paying players directly, despite not considering them full-time employees.
As we continue moving into this uncharted territory of unregulated NIL and rev-share, it’s still that way since the federal government scheduled meetings to complain about it, but hasn’t introduced significant reform, these three schools figure to be in the mix for as long as money is the biggest factor.
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes have deep-rooted institutional backing from L Brands, which has funded buildings on campus before the NIL/rev-share era, and now play the pay-to-play game with GM Mark Pantoni and Ryan Day.
Ohio State is also a major land-grant university that’s the flagship school in the Buckeye State. Throw in that the school not only has a stronghold on local talent, but also a long-standing pipeline from the Southeast that’s matched only by SEC institutions, and Ohio State is too deeply entrenched within College Football lore to ever lose its powerhouse status.
Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns have a long list of donors, getting the bulk of institutional support from more than one network. Texas has an army of donors from across the Longhorn State, which has the nation’s second-largest GDP ($2.7 trillion).
With a concentration of top tech talent from across the country, Austin is bringing and keeping big-time earners within Travis County limits. With no pro football team within 170 miles and situated in the hotbed of the most passionate football state in the country, which also happens to be the capital city, the Longhorns will never see significant divestment. It’s in Texas’s roots to make sure this team prospers. It’s called the Longhorn State, after all.
Miami Hurricanes
Many of the advantages Austin, Texas, has in the tech sector, Miami, Florida, has in the finance sector. That means money is always moving in South Florida. The Hurricanes, by proxy, will always benefit, since many alumni from the well-endowed private school go into business in the city.
It’s hard to live in Miami for four years and not want to stay. Now, with money being a component in how rosters are built, these passionate alumni, like LifeWallet’s John Ruiz, and the biggest companies across the Sunshine State, are restoring The U’s glory from the aughts, 1990s, and 1980s.
