If the Power 5 conferences started from scratch tomorrow, how desirable would the Iowa Hawkeyes and the rest of the Big Ten league be? This is precisely what Sports Illustrated set out to determine in its desirability ratings.
In order to compile their full Power 5 ratings, a set of five categories were used to rank programs: football ranking, academic ranking, all-sports ranking, football attendance and broadcast audience.
For the football rankings, SI used Sagarin’s five-year scoring averages for each Power 5 team from 2017-21. Academic rankings were listed according to the U.S. News & World Report National University Rankings.
The all-sports rankings were based on the 2021-22 Division I standings in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, which evaluates performance in 19 sports. Football attendance rankings were based on average attendance at home games (minus the 2020 season) in 2017–21.
Finally, the broadcast audience was based on the total number of football games for each program that attracted one million or more viewers from 2017-21. Once again, this list excluded the 2020 season due to COVID-19 skewing the results.
From worst to first, here’s how each of the Big Ten schools ranked in SI desirability scores based on those five categories among the now 69 Power 5 programs.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Broadcast Hearing: No. See the article : MBB will face Ohio State in NYC in the CBS Sports Classic. 67 (tie)
Illinois Fighting Illini
Issue hearing: no. 58 (tie)
Maryland Terrapins
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Broadcast Hearing: No. See the article : Meet the USA TODAY Sports Network preseason All-SEC football team for 2022. 41 (tie)
Indiana Hoosiers
Broadcast Hearing: No. This may interest you : The 7 Highest Paid Broadcasters in Sport. 36 (tie)
Purdue Boilermakers
Broadcast Hearing: No. 45 (tie)
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
Broadcast Hearing: No. 49 (tie)
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Broadcast Hearing: No. 16 (tie)
Northwestern Wildcats
Broadcast Hearing: No. 32 (tie)
Iowa Hawkeyes
Broadcast Hearing: No. 21 (tie)
Michigan State Spartans
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
UCLA Bruins
Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Football Attendance: No. 40 (tie)
Broadcast Hearing: No. 28 (tie)
Penn State Nittany Lions
USC Trojans
Football Attendance: No. 23 (tie)
Wisconsin Badgers
Broadcast Hearing: No. 12 (tie)
Michigan Wolverines
Broadcast Hearing: No. 5 (tie)
Ohio State Buckeyes
Broadcast Hearing: No. 2 (tie)
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