UA basketball 14th most valuable team in the country

How good a job is the Alabama basketball coaching gig? Perhaps better than many of us think.

Alabama is a surprising 14th in a recent Forbes magazine ranking of college basketball's most valuable teams, placing the Crimson Tide third in the SEC behind only Kentucky and Tennessee.

Forbes put Alabama's team value at $12.3 million, rising 41 percent in the last year with $15 million in revenue and a profit of $8.2 million.

"Alabama's athletic department is one of the biggest contributors to academic programming, annually sending upwards of $6 million to university initiatives," Forbes' Chris Smith wrote of the Crimson Tide. "The basketball team has been succeeding financially despite the poor on-court performance; the Tide haven't been in the NCAA Tournament since 2012, a pitiful streak that recently cost head coach Anthony Grant his job."

Forbes' calculations are based on ticket sales, game-day revenue, NCAA and conference distributions, expenses and other financial data from the 2013-14 season, utilizing a "weighted methodology" that places emphasis on the money each team generates for its athletic department, its university and its conference.

Kentucky, perhaps surprisingly, was not No. 1. The Wildcats, who have a chance to become the first undefeated NCAA hoops champion since Indiana in 1976, have a legion of fans known as Big Blue Nation and essentially carry the SEC's basketball fortunes many years, but placed third in Forbes' ranking as the program's value decreased 3 percent this year to $31.5 million thanks to increased expenses from a run to last year's NCAA tourney final.

No. 1 was Kentucky's in-state rival, Louisville, whose program was judged to be worth $38.3 million, with Kansas second at $35.4 million. Arizona and North Carolina rounded out the top five.

Other SEC teams making the top 20 were Tennessee (11th, $18.7 million), Arkansas (17th, $11.6 million) and Missouri (20th, $10.9 million).

Of course, there are many other factors that go into how attractive a job might be for a prospective coach, including recruiting base, facilities, conference strength, and support from the administration.

How do all those stack up at Alabama? Perhaps it will be up to Gregg Marshall or another up-and-coming coaching candidate to tell us.

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