Texas A&M Passes Texas To Become Biggest Athletic Department In Country

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Maybe everything really is bigger in Texas. 

Fresh off their new stadium addition and their joining of the SEC, Texas A&M boasts the largest athletic department in the country for the 2014-15 year according to data published by USA Today this afternoon. I'm no accounting major so if you want to quibble with the revenue figures you can read some of the details here, but the general trend is unmistakable, ever since joining the SEC the Aggies have been making it rain. 

Here are your top 20 largest athletic programs in the country for 2014-15. 

1. Texas A&M $192.6 million SEC

2. Texas $183.5 million Big 12

3. Ohio State $167.2 million Big Ten

4. Michigan $152.5 million Big Ten

5. Alabama $148.9 million SEC

6. Florida $147.1 million SEC

7. LSU $138.6 million SEC

8. Oklahoma $134.3 million Big 12

9. Tennessee $126.6 million SEC

10. Penn State $125.7 million Big Ten

11. Auburn $124.7 million SEC

12. Wisconsin $123.8 million Big Ten

13. Florida State $120.8 million ACC

14. Kentucky $116.5 million SEC

15. Georgia $116.2 million SEC

16. Arkansas $114.2 million SEC

17. South Carolina $113.2 million SEC

18. Minnesota $111.2 million Big Ten

19. Michigan State $108.7 million Big Ten

20. Iowa $106 million Big Ten

You can see the full list from USA Today here. 

One thing that rapidly jumps out at you -- the Big 12, the ACC, and the Pac 12 have just three teams combined in the top 20 largest athletic departments. And the Pac 12 has no schools at all. 

That's because the Big Five is rapidly becoming the Big Two thanks to the blockbuster success of the SEC Network and the Big Ten Network. The SEC has 10 of the top 17 largest athletic departments in the country and the Big Ten has 7 of the top 20.

Look for these numbers to continue to grow for the SEC and the Big Ten, creating even further revenue gaps between them and the rest of the country.  

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Clay Travis is the founder of the fastest growing national multimedia platform, OutKick, that produces and distributes engaging content across sports and pop culture to millions of fans across the country. OutKick was created by Travis in 2011 and sold to the Fox Corporation in 2021. One of the most electrifying and outspoken personalities in the industry, Travis hosts OutKick The Show where he provides his unfiltered opinion on the most compelling headlines throughout sports, culture, and politics. He also makes regular appearances on FOX News Media as a contributor providing analysis on a variety of subjects ranging from sports news to the cultural landscape. Throughout the college football season, Travis is on Big Noon Kickoff for Fox Sports breaking down the game and the latest storylines. Additionally, Travis serves as a co-host of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a three-hour conservative radio talk program syndicated across Premiere Networks radio stations nationwide. Previously, he launched OutKick The Coverage on Fox Sports Radio that included interviews and listener interactions and was on Fox Sports Bet for four years. Additionally, Travis started an iHeartRadio Original Podcast called Wins & Losses that featured in-depth conversations with the biggest names in sports. Travis is a graduate of George Washington University as well as Vanderbilt Law School. Based in Nashville, he is the author of Dixieland Delight, On Rocky Top, and Republicans Buy Sneakers Too.