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2022 College Football Brand rankings released

Alex Weberby:Alex Weber•07/28/22
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Photo by Michael Allio/Getty Images

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.

  1. Alabama
  2. Ohio State
  3. Georgia
  4. Oklahoma
  5. Clemson
  6. LSU
  7. Texas A&M
  8. Texas
  9. Oregon
  10. Miami
  11. Florida
  12. Notre Dame
  13. Penn State
  14. North Carolina
  15. Ole Miss
  16. Michigan
  17. Florida State
  18. Tennessee
  19. USC
  20. UCLA
  21. Auburn
  22. Michigan State
  23. Mississippi State
  24. Maryland
  25. South Carolina
  26. Kentucky
  27. Oklahoma State
  28. Texas Tech
  29. Missouri
  30. TCU
  31. Iowa
  32. Georgia Tech
  33. West Virginia
  34. Wisconsin
  35. Arkansas
  36. Washington
  37. Stanford
  38. Nebraska
  39. Wake Forest
  40. 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.