Active $42.57M · Recruits $5.30M · 77 valued players
Top Player
Arch Manning (QB)$6.80M
Anchored by Arch Manning's $6.80M but built deep — 77 valued players, no single contract dominating the cap. The most diversified roster in the top 5.
Top 5 College Football Teams by Estimated Roster Value
2026 Season
Published April 28, 2026
We added up every player's estimated NIL valuation on every FBS roster — every starter, every backup, every committed 2026 recruit — to find the top 5 programs by total roster value. The results aren't where you'd think.
The SEC has two of the top 5. The Big Ten has two. The ACC has one. The Big 12 has none. Talent and money are more distributed in 2026 than the conference-realignment narrative would suggest.
Below: the rankings, the top player anchoring each roster, and what each team's number actually reflects.
How we built this list
- Total roster value = sum of CFO valuations across all active roster players + committed 2026 recruits.
- Includes: starters, backups, walk-ons (where valued), incoming high-school commitments.
- Excludes: departed transfers, unsigned recruiting targets.
- Updated: April 2026 — rankings may shift after spring transfer window and summer practices.
Active $38.12M · Recruits $5.87M · 77 valued players
Top Player
Darian Mensah (QB)$10.00M
A different roster-construction philosophy. Darian Mensah's $10M deal accounts for nearly a quarter of Miami's total — by far the largest single-player commitment in the top 5. The Hurricanes are betting on their QB.
Active $36.84M · Recruits $6.20M · 74 valued players
Top Player
Dante Moore (QB)$7.50M
Quietly built through both the portal and the deepest 2026 high-school commitment haul of any top-5 team — $6.20M in incoming recruit value. Dante Moore at $7.50M leads the room.
Active $38.62M · Recruits $4.00M · 71 valued players
Top Player
Sam Leavitt (QB)$6.00M
Built differently: just 12 valued recruits in the 2026 class — the smallest of the top 5 — but ranked top-5 anyway. Concentration over volume. Sam Leavitt's reported $6M portal deal anchors the room.
Active $36.53M · Recruits $6.02M · 71 valued players
Top Player
Jeremiah Smith (WR)$5.00M
The most balanced roster in the group. Jeremiah Smith's $5M is the smallest top-player share of any top-5 team at 11.8% — depth wins here, not concentration of stars.
| # | Team | Total Roster Value | Top Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  TexasSEC Anchored by Arch Manning's $6.80M but built deep — 77 valued players, no single contract dominating the cap. The most diversified roster in the top 5. | $47.87M Active $42.57M Recruits $5.30M 77 valued | Arch Manning QB $6.80M 14.2% of total |
| 2 |  MiamiACC A different roster-construction philosophy. Darian Mensah's $10M deal accounts for nearly a quarter of Miami's total — by far the largest single-player commitment in the top 5. The Hurricanes are betting on their QB. | $43.99M Active $38.12M Recruits $5.87M 77 valued | Darian Mensah QB $10.00M 22.7% of total |
| 3 |  OregonBig Ten Quietly built through both the portal and the deepest 2026 high-school commitment haul of any top-5 team — $6.20M in incoming recruit value. Dante Moore at $7.50M leads the room. | $43.04M Active $36.84M Recruits $6.20M 74 valued | Dante Moore QB $7.50M 17.4% of total |
| 4 |  LSUSEC Built differently: just 12 valued recruits in the 2026 class — the smallest of the top 5 — but ranked top-5 anyway. Concentration over volume. Sam Leavitt's reported $6M portal deal anchors the room. | $42.61M Active $38.62M Recruits $4.00M 71 valued | Sam Leavitt QB $6.00M 14.1% of total |
| 5 |  Ohio StateBig Ten The most balanced roster in the group. Jeremiah Smith's $5M is the smallest top-player share of any top-5 team at 11.8% — depth wins here, not concentration of stars. | $42.54M Active $36.53M Recruits $6.02M 71 valued | Jeremiah Smith WR $5.00M 11.8% of total |
Want to see where every FBS team ranks? View the full team list →
Methodology
Total roster value sums every player's CFO NIL valuation for active roster players plus committed 2026 high-school recruits. The figure represents an estimate of total NIL commitments across a program's roster, not reported contract totals.
Four of the five top players in this list are quarterbacks. CFO's valuation model assigns the highest position-baseline value to QBs, reflecting the position's outsized impact on team outcomes. This is a model behavior, not a coincidence.
Most valuations are CFO modeled estimates. Where reported figures are publicly available, those are used instead — including Sam Leavitt's $6M LSU portal deal.
Roster values reflect April 2026 snapshot. Rankings may shift meaningfully after spring transfer movement and summer roster finalizations.