How much each Power 5 school spends on recruiting
Last week we saw how much Clemson spends on recruiting. Now, thanks to the folks at USA Today, we have a glance at 52 Power 5 public schools.
You won't be surprised to learn that Clemson was not first, an SEC school was. An SEC school was also second. And third. And sixth. And 10th. And 12th.
You get the point.
In fact, the SEC's public institutions spent an average of $1.3 million on recruiting in Fiscal Year 2018, which the NCAA defines as "transportation, lodging and meals for prospective student-athletes and institutional personnel on official and unofficial visits." The SEC was far ahead of the pack, leading the Big 12's average spending of $960,000, followed by the ACC ($940,000), the Big Ten ($855,000) and the Pac-12 ($710,000).
In a related story, here are the Power 5 conferences ranked by total number of College Football Playoff appearances through five years in the system:
1. SEC -- 6
2. ACC -- 5
3. Big 12 -- 3
3. Big Ten -- 3
5. Pac-12 -- 2
Here are the 10 highest spenders in recruiting:
1. Georgia -- $2.626 million
2. Alabama -- $2.344 million
3. Tennessee -- $2.002 million
4. Texas -- $1.823 million
5. Clemson -- $1.790 million
6. Texas A&M -- $1.710 million
7. Florida State -- $1.581 million
8. Michigan -- $1.397 million
9. Penn State -- $1.369 million
10. LSU -- $1.287 million
Since the bulk of that spending was devoted to reeling in the class of 2019, here are the top 10 recruiting classes (as ranked by the 247 Composite), with how much each school spent on that class and where that ranked nationally in parenthesis.
1. Alabama ($2.344 million, 2nd)
2. Georgia ($2.626 million, 1st)
3. Texas ($1.823 million, 4th)
4. Texas A&M ($1.710 million, 6th)
5. LSU ($1.287 million, 10th)
6. Oklahoma ($1.264 million, 11th)
7. Oregon ($997,000, 20th)
8. Michigan ($1.397 million, 8th)
9. Florida ($1.115 million, 14th)
10. Clemson ($1.790 million, 5th)
As you can see, only Oregon significantly outperformed its spending, turning the 20th-highest budget into the seventh-rated class.
And, because I know you're curious, here are the 10 lowest spenders in recruiting, with their 247Composite ranking in parenthesis.
43. Purdue -- $556,000 (25th)
44. NC State -- $548,000 (30th)
45. Arizona -- $546,000 (54th)
46. Maryland -- $539,000 (47th)
47. Texas Tech -- $535,000 (61st)
48. Arizona State -- $532,000 (32nd)
49. Washington State -- $524,000 (64th)
50. Kansas State -- $509,000 (62nd)
51. Mississippi State -- $453,000 (24th)
52. Wisconsin -- $350,000 (28th)
