There’s plenty of determining factors in the current state of college athletics but the almighty dollar rules all. Money is why we’re seeing expanded conferences, more transfers than ever before and the expanded College Football Playoffs.
All FBS schools, both public and private, reported their grand total revenue for the 2025 financial year and the UCLA Bruins made out with over $170 million in revenue for the year. UCLA’s $173.4 million ranked 32nd of all FBS schools, sandwiched in between Kansas and California. This isn’t the net total though, so UCLA’s books might not look quite as pretty as the $173.4 million number would indicate.
Graphs like this make conference realignment make more sense. Every Big Ten Conference school is within the Top-60 schools in terms of 2025 revenue, with Ohio State leading the conference with $295.3 million, the second-highest total in the country behind Texas, who generated an insane $343.1 million.
UCLA was able to rank No. 32 without a successful football program. If the Bruins are able to turn things around on the field in the most profitable sport, UCLA will rank even higher in coming years. While the Bruins don’t yet have an elite football program, UCLA has strong basketball programs and have fielded national championship caliber teams in softball, baseball and gymnastics.
The USC Trojans soared past UCLA, with the Trojans bringing in $234 million, ranking 10th in the country. While there’s a few former Pac-12 teams doing well financially, it’s not the same as the Big Ten. Utah is ranked 60th, Oregon State is at No. 67 and Washington State is at No. 74.
Conference realignment ruffled a lot of feathers, seeing the Pac-12 break apart to chase higher revenue, but now you’re seeing the reasoning behind it. UCLA is doing well in the Big Ten, with a chance to do even better with some added on-field success.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA Bruins and the rest of the Big Ten enjoyed a profitable 2025
