NCAA Softball: Top Spending vs. Ranking 2025 2026

With all the talk about money, and certain universities throwing money at certain sports, I thought it would be interesting to look at the numbers regarding this question: How does a top budget for a given sport compare to how the team ranked at the end of the season? Is more money translating into a higher ranking?

I am selectively looking at some of the so-called minor sports – baseball, softball, volleyball, and women’s basketball – along with men’s basketball. We list some basic budget numbers based on what is publicly available, and some are estimates. Also, NIL is not included. Most private universities – TCU, Notre Dame, Duke, etc. – do not publicly release budget information on any of their departments and are not included.

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2025

Here were the 12 biggest spenders in softball in 2025:

1. University of Oklahoma: $7,724,358

2. University of Tennessee: $5,807,620

3. University of Nebraska-Lincoln: $4,631,302

4. Texas A&M University: $4,490,934

5. University of Florida: $4,481,513

6. Clemson University: $4,313,465

7. University of Washington: $4,296,701

8. University of Texas at Austin: $4,048,926

9. University of Oregon: $4,007,540

10. University of South Carolina: $3,970,575

11. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA): $3,945,889

12. University of Alabama: $3,887,893

Washington was unranked, so their RPI is listed.

Other than Washington, the other 11 teams arguably get bang out of their budgets. They go fairly deep in the NCAA tournament and many make it to Oklahoma City. Washington, however, does not get comparable bang out of their basic budget in 2025.

2026

1. University of Oklahoma – $7.7 million

2. University of Tennessee – $5.8 million

3. University of Alabama – $3.79 million

4. University of Missouri – $3.7 million

5. Oklahoma State University – $3.48 million

6. Auburn University – $3.5 million

7. University of Texas at Austin – $3.42 million

8. University of Mississippi – $3.39 million

10. University of Florida – $3.18 million

11. University of Arkansas – $3.18 million

12. University of Arizona – $2.99 million

In 2026, most of the top spenders get to the NCAA tournament and some get to Oklahoma City, but we have three teams – Missouri, Auburn, and Ole Miss – that end the season unranked, with Missouri and Auburn not making the NCAA tournament.