The Texas Tribune has a study out today analyzing the financials of each of the eight public FBS football programs in the state. (Which is incredible in itself when you stop and think about it: California and Florida have seven FBS programs total; Texas has eight public and four privates.)
The first takeaway is that the gap between Haves and Have Nots is not evenly divided between the Power 5 and the Group of Five. In fact, there are three groups: Haves, Have Lesses and Have Nots.
Texas and Texas A&M in 2015-16 were far and away the biggest earners in the state. This isn't shocking to anyone. Thanks to their Kyle Field fundraising drive, the Aggies took home the revenue title with just under $195 million in total intake. Texas trailed at nearly $188 million.
And then there is Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are members of Power 5 conferences, and have been continuous peers with the Longhorns and Aggies since joining the Southwest Conference more than 60 years ago. But Texas Tech's revenue is actually much closer to last-place Texas State ($67.5 million) than second-place Texas ($111 million).
(Note: The numbers below reflect department-generated revenue only, not subsidies and fees from general university funds.)
The second takeaway is the monetary value of a home-run coaching hire.
No matter how much some try to claim otherwise -- including, oddly, some Houston fans -- Tom Herman was an absolute home run for Houston. He went 22-4 in two seasons, led the Cougars to an AAC championship, a Peach Bowl victory, a No. 8 final ranking, a nationally-televised win over Oklahoma, and a takedown of Heisman winner Lamar Jackson. He packed 20 years of accomplishments into two seasons.
And he made a lot of money for the program in the process. Houston's revenue grew 40 percent (while expenses grew only 15 percent) during Herman's tenure -- and 75 percent of that growth was due to football. In addition to a Peach Bowl payout, donations and ticket sales grew to a point where the athletics department was able to shrink its university contribution by $1 million.