Updated Saturday, September 5, 2026. Roster figures are reported estimates that combine each school’s revenue share payments with collective and third party NIL money. No school publishes its football payroll, so every number below is a range dressed up as a point. This page refreshes after each portal window and when new reporting lands.
Two years ago, a $20 million roster won Ohio State a national title and was treated as an outlier. This season, CBS Sports reports that seven programs are at $40 million or more, roughly 15 title contenders are above $30 million, and multiple industry sources put LSU’s first roster under Lane Kiffin above $50 million once incentives are counted. The College Sports Commission said its clearinghouse approved $228 million in NIL deals in the first six months of 2026 alone.
| Rank | Team | Reported roster cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | $47.9M | Arch Manning took a reduced revenue share; money went to Cam Coleman, the offensive line and portal backs |
| 2 | Miami | $44.0M | Darian Mensah, the highest paid player in the sport, reportedly cost $8M to $10M |
| 3 | Ohio State | $43.5M | Kept Jeremiah Smith ($5M) after he turned down a $10M plus portal offer |
| 4 | LSU | $42.8M | Several sources say $50M plus with incentives; Kiffin added Sam Leavitt, Jordan Seaton, Princewill Umanmielen |
| 5 | Oregon | $42.8M | Dante Moore returned at $5M instead of entering the NFL draft |
| 6 | Notre Dame | $40.4M | Independent, so no conference revenue share dependency |
| 7 | Texas A&M | $38.9M | Upper $30Ms base; incentives could push it past $40M per CBS |
| 8 | Alabama | $37.2M | |
| 9 | Texas Tech | $36.3M | The Big 12’s biggest spender |
| 10 | Tennessee | $35.7M | Seven Tennessee athletes are in the On3 NIL 100, tied for most of any school |
| 11 | Ole Miss | $35.2M | Paid Trinidad Chambliss $5M plus a year to keep him from following Kiffin |
| 12 | Georgia | $34.2M | |
| 13 | USC | $34.2M | Named by an SEC staffer as one of five schools in their own spending category |
| 14 | Oklahoma | $33.0M | |
| 15 | Michigan | $32.4M | Bryce Underwood at $3M |
Dollar figures are the roster valuations reported by OutKick in May 2026. CBS Sports’ August survey of front office staff grouped the top programs into tiers rather than exact figures, with Texas, Miami, Oregon, Ohio State, LSU, Texas A&M and Notre Dame at $40 million or more; the two sources agree on the group but not on the order.
What Is Actually Being Counted
Every roster figure stacks two layers. The first is revenue sharing, the money a school pays athletes directly under the House settlement. That is capped at $21.3 million per school for the 2026 to 27 year across all sports, and most Power Four programs put the large majority of it into football. The second layer is third party NIL: collectives, boosters and brand deals. There is no cap on that layer, which is why a $40 million roster can exist under a $21.3 million cap. Deals over $600 have to clear the College Sports Commission’s NIL Go review, but clearing them is not the same as capping them.
Opendorse data reported by the Houston Chronicle gives a sense of scale: college athletes earned about $393 million in 2021, the first year of NIL, roughly $1 billion in 2025, and are projected to earn $2.4 billion in 2026. The same data says 90 percent of Power Four football players make $100,000 or less, so these roster totals are concentrated in a few dozen players per team.
Who Is Getting the Most for the Money
Spending and winning line up better than critics expected. Six of the seven $40 million programs made the College Football Playoff at least once in the last two seasons; LSU is the exception and is spending to change that. Indiana, the defending champion, is not in the top 15 by cost, which says something about what Curt Cignetti has built. The cheapest way into the top tier is still a coach who wins the portal on evaluation rather than price.
Player by player, the highest paid individuals are on our highest NIL valuations page. The rules behind the two layers are on how revenue sharing works and the House settlement explained.
The Bottom Line
Texas, at roughly $48 million, has the most expensive roster in college football by most accounts, with Miami, Ohio State, LSU and Oregon all above $42 million and LSU possibly the true No. 1 once incentives pay out. Seven programs are at $40 million or more, a threshold that did not exist two years ago, and the $21.3 million revenue share cap is not a cap on any of it.