Conference Expansion Desirability Ratings: Where Does Texas Land?

The University of Texas ranks among the top five most coveted schools if conferences were starting over.

The University of Texas is one of the most powerful brands in college athletics. Any conference in the nation would welcome Texas as one of its member schools. That is represented in Sports Illustrated’s Power 5 Desirability Ratings, which has Texas ranked fourth, only behind Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame.

A school’s desirability rating is a measure of how coveted that school would be if college conferences started over. The system ranks each school based on their football program, all sports, academics, attendance, and viewership. 

The Longhorns are good to great in all desirable areas for a conference. They rank 12th in football, 1st in all sports, 14th in academics, 7th in attendance, and 7th in viewership. These rankings produce a desirability rating of 41. 

Texas has arguably the best overall athletics program, backed up by two straight Director’s Cup victories. They have one of the biggest brands in college football, and that is represented in both fan attendance and viewership.

Although the SEC does not prioritize academics, other conferences do, such as the Big Ten and the Pac-12. In this scenario where conferences start from scratch, Texas would be welcomed into any conference that covets academics. Texas is one of the premier public institutions in the nation. 

The Longhorns have an opportunity to increase their desirability rating if their football program can compete at an elite level in the years to come. Luckily, they do not have to worry about how desirable their school is moving forward, as they have already announced a move to the SEC in 2025.

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You can follow Michael Gresser on Twitter @gresser_michael

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