2022 College Football Brand rankings released
A college sports website called Official Visit recently surveyed 1,000 high school football players on the brand strength of programs across the country. Folks talk about branding all the time and how important it is in order to land recruits. Or how a brand can appeal to a national audience beyond just a mere regional fan base.
Here was what their results returned as the top 40 brands in college football. At least according to the players who were once recruited by these schools and now play for them. So forget all the media talk about who has great brands. Instead, hear it from the guys who live and breathe college football every day.
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Clemson
- LSU
- Texas A&M
- Texas
- Oregon
- Miami
- Florida
- Notre Dame
- Penn State
- North Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Michigan
- Florida State
- Tennessee
- USC
- UCLA
- Auburn
- Michigan State
- Mississippi State
- Maryland
- South Carolina
- Kentucky
- Oklahoma State
- Texas Tech
- Missouri
- TCU
- Iowa
- Georgia Tech
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Arkansas
- Washington
- Stanford
- Nebraska
- Wake Forest
- Baylor
Recap
No surprises at the top, really. The last eight national champions are all included in the top-six, and Oklahoma is the only program among that group that hasn’t won a title in the College Football Playoff era.
Another non-shocker is the choke-hold the SEC has on the list. 13 of the 14 SEC programs appear on the list, with poor Vanderbilt as the only exception. Also, the new Pac-12 — minus USC and UCLA — features just one of the top-35 brands in Oregon, with Washington next highest at 36th.
An interesting exercise for sure. And a list that aligns fairly closely with what college football fans would probably expect. Also, generally speaking, these brand rankings align with success on the football field. So what’s the key to creating a great football brand? Well, it may be as simple as winning games.