Penn State's roster valuation is both really high and not high enough at the exact same time.
The Athletic released an article on Wednesday that laid out the valuation of each program in Division I, and there are so many takeaways from just looking at where every program stands.
Now, it is critical to mention that these numbers are not exact and they are well-educated guesses. The leaders in the clubhouse are the typical suspects. Texas, Ohio State, and Oregon top the chart in the $50M range, and the bottom feeder is the Boston College Eagles, who are in the $8M range.
Now, there is an obvious initial takeaway from all of this: college football is insanely expensive. The millions and millions and millions of dollars that are being thrown around are really insane, but that's the cost of doing business anymore. The other eye-opening fact is that these values aren't going to slow down anytime soon.
The second main takeaway is that, for Penn State specifically, two things are absolutely true for them. They are spending an insane amount of money on their roster, and they are not spending nearly enough to compete consistently at the top of college football.
The Nittany Lions check in at around $30M, which is definitely in the top half of programs, but definitely not near the top.
Penn State neighbors programs such as Wisconsin, Clemson, Nebraska, and, interestingly enough, the Georgia Bulldogs.
Georgia is obviously competing at the top of the sport, but the Lions might not quite be there yet.
The disparity from top to bottom of the sport is unfortunately what is wrong with the sport. There is no legitimate world where teams in the basement can compete consistently with the teams at the top without getting a miracle.
I say that just days after the Oklahoma State Cowboys thoroughly handled the Oregon Ducks, so maybe my theory is not a sound one. The truth has to be somewhere in the middle. It is really hard for those teams at the bottom to compete with the teams at the top, with the only difference being the money that they can afford to spend on their roster.
Penn State is likely a year away from being able to push a bunch of cash into the roster. They are infused with some big-time dollars thanks to their Adidas deal, and that is going to significantly help the roster that they are able to build.
Penn State's roster is in a good spot, and once the new head coach, Matt Campbell, gets settled in, they will be able to pour gas on the fire by throwing more cash at the roster. The days ahead are bright for the future of the Nittany Lions.
