David Jones | djones@pennlive.com

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Southeastern Conference football is, without question, the most lucrative cash cow in collegiate athletics. And updated figures recently posted by the U.S. Department of Education prove it. If you saw yesterday’s slideshow on Big Ten football revenue, you know the obscene money it pulls in.

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But the SEC is positively decadent in comparison. While four of the B1G’s 14 schools topped $70 million in gross revenue, twice that many made that much or more in the SEC. And while only Michigan football topped a $90 million gross from the B1G, four different SEC schools did so, most of any conference nationally.

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Here are gross revenue figures for all 14 SEC football programs for the fiscal year 07/01/16 to 06/30/17. Keep in mind, then, they reflect the 2016 season, not 2017. Included are notes about expenses, profit and previous data. The disparity between the bottom and top of the list is fairly stark. We’ll begin at the basement and work our way up.

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Vanderbilt running back Ralph Webb (7) scores against Tennessee during Commodores' 45-34 upset win on Nov. 26, 2016, in Nashville.

AP/Amy Smotherman Burgess

14. Vanderbilt: $29.0 million

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This has always been the league’s total outlier, an esteemed private school in a conference full of football factories. Vandy is the Northwestern of the SEC but has never approached the success NU has occasionally enjoyed in the Big Ten. In fact, until James Franklin did his magic act in the early ‘10s, the Commodores’ most notable flashes of success in the modern era came in 2008 when Bobby Johnson got them to their first bowl win since 1955 and before that when Gerry DiNardo managed a string of 4- and 5- win seasons in the early ‘90s.

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So, when Derek Mason took over for Franklin and kept Vandy competitive, it was a major achievement. His 6-7 season with an Independence Bowl in 2016 included upsets of Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. That VU managed a $5.7M profit after expenses with a 40,350-seat stadium in which only 3/4ths of the tickets were sold is no small feat.

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Missouri defensive end Charles Harris (91) celebrates sack during 28-27 loss to Georgia on Sept. 17, 2016, in Columbia, Mo.

AP/Jeff Roberson

13. Missouri: $29.2 million

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If some folks at Mizzou are having buyer’s remorse about the school’s jump into the SEC from the Big 12, they’d never admit it. Geographically and culturally, Missouri has a lot more in common with the Big Ten with which it expressed interest in joining before deciding on the SEC in 2011. If the B1G had come calling when it tapped Nebraska, might the Gary Pinkel era have resulted in two B1G West division titles in 2013 and 2014 instead of two from the SEC East?

In the end, it apparently wasn't an option, so fiscally, the SEC move was a no-brainer. But financially, the loss of Pinkel to retirement has had an impact. Fan interest in football, never rabid, has dipped during the Barry Odom era. Attendance at old Memorial Stadium has been tepid and Mizzou football cleared just $8.1M in 2016 after expenses.

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Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen celebrates with fans after beating Texas A&M 35-28 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Miss., on Nov. 5, 2016. Mullen left after last season to take over at Florida and former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead will fill his big shoes starting this season.

AP/James Pugh

12. Mississippi State: $35.7 million

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If you didn’t grasp exactly what Dan Mullen has accomplished in the last 9 years in Starkville or the task ahead of Joe Moorhead, you will after the end of this slideshow. Mississippi State simply does not have the urban centers or fan base to draw from that almost all the other SEC schools do.

Mix that with the lack of winning heritage and the fact the men's basketball program was a consistent NCAA tournament force throughout the 1990s and 2000s and you have a real challenge. Even at 6-7, Mullen's next-to-last season was typical in that he managed to upset two teams he really shouldn't have (A&M and @Ole Miss) and got the Bulldogs to a bowl. MSU football cleared $12.6M after expenses.

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Kentucky coach Mark Stoops and Wildcats celebrate one of 2016's biggest upsets, 27-point-underdog UK's 31-28 win at Louisville.

AP/Pat McDonogh

11. Kentucky: $36.4 million

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This represents the top end of the SEC’s lower echelon – basketball schools without great football heritage. You might think the revenue generation of Kentucky football pales in comparison to the religion that is UK basketball.

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But just to show how dominant football is as an economic force in college athletics: Even though the Wildcats dragged six consecutive losing seasons into 2016 with not even a bowl since 2010, their 7-6 year capped by a fleabag-bowl loss to Georgia Tech still generated 30% more gross revenue than Kentucky men’s hoops ($28.0 M) during a 2016-17 SEC championship season ending with a #5 national ranking and Elite Eight appearance. Comparative profits: $10.8M for football; $8.8M for basketball.

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South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp looks stricken as he gives post-game greeting to Clemson's Dabo Swinney after 56-7 loss on Nov. 26, 2016. The Gamecocks rebounded last season to 9-4 and a comeback bowl win over Michigan.

AP/Richard Shiro

10. South Carolina: $60.3 million

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The hangover at the end of Steve Spurrier's mid-season resignation in 2015 carried over into Will Muschamp's first year (6-7). Enthusiasm flat-lined as USC managed just 7 SEC wins over 3 seasons from 2014 to 2016, 3 of those over Vanderbilt. Gross revenue was virtually even with 2015-16 and attendance slipped at Williams-Brice Stadium. Combined with rival Clemson's massive simultaneous success, the Gamecocks became second-class citizens in their own state. After-expenses profit was a relatively modest $25.5M, sliding Carolina into a no man's land between SEC haves and have-nots. The Cocks recovered last season to 9-4 and second place in the East, but these figures reflect only 2016.

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Hugh Freeze, the architect of Ole Miss' resurgence, was forced to resign as Rebels coach in July after school officials uncovered what they called "a pattern of misconduct," including a call to an escort service Freeze called "a misdial."

AP/Rogelio V. Solis

9. Mississippi: $62.7 million

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This was the fifth and final season of the Hugh Freeze tenure which at once saw the greatest sustained success in Ole Miss football since the David Cutcliffe/Eli Manning era but also ended in disgrace after Freeze was nailed for multiple recruiting violations and a stinky mess erupted with predecessor Houston Nutt. Though 2016 was a 5-7 disaster, the preceding string of progressively better seasons including back-to-back wins over Alabama juiced interest and jacked gross football revenue a whopping 10.4% over 2015. That catapulted Ole Miss above South Carolina for 9th place. The net take after expenses was $32.3M.

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Texas A&M unloaded Kevin Sumlin at the end of last season after a string of so-so seasons.

AP/Gerald Herbert

8. Texas A&M: $70.4 million

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Now that the new Kyle Field is up and running, A&M has the 4th-largest stadium in America (102,577 seats) and a max-capacity revenue pipe. All the Aggies need now is a football team that can win more than 8 games. That was a wall A&M could not climb the last four years of the Kevin Sumlin era. This was his next-to-last season and the Aggies consistently underperformed all but the first. Though the fans kept coming out, gross football revenue dipped more than 4% from 2015-16 and football profit was a mere $37.3M.

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7. Arkansas: $71.2 million

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Being Bret Bielema was on the air and Arkansas passed A&M for 7th in gross revenue during a rollercoaster season. It included four outright wins as a Vegas underdog, but also four blowout losses of >18 points and a second-half collapse in a double-digit bowl loss to Virginia Tech. Bielema eventually wore out his welcome and was fired after last season's 4-8 debacle. But the Razorbacks finished in the top half of the league in football revenue and cleared $33.9M after expenses.

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A 22-12 record got Jim McElwain swamped at Florida.

AP photo

6. Florida: $82.8 million

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This was the middle year of the ill-fated, 3-season Jim McElwain experiment. Despite losing road games at Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State, the Gators still managed to win the East and so were sentenced to a beatdown by Alabama in the SEC championship before stepping on Iowa in the Outback Bowl. UF's gross revenue nudged down a million from the 2015 season but still easily maintained the #6 spot in gross football revenue and came away with $49.1M after expenses, 4th-best football profit margin in the league.

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Ed Orgeron was merely LSU's interim coach as he walked toward Tiger Stadium before taking on Florida in Baton Rouge on November 19, 2016. But since then he's been signed to a long-term contract.

NOLA.com/Brett Duke

5. Louisiana State: $86.2 million

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This was the year 11-season head coach Les Miles was fired the last week of September after four games and replaced with Cajun native Ed Orgeron who remains there. But seven home dates nonetheless filled 102,321-seat Tiger Stadium to an average 99 percent of capacity as LSU finished 8-4 and then leveled Louisville in the Citrus Bowl. Gross revenue was virtually flat from the 2015 season; the football take after expenses was a handsome $56.1M.

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Despite being the OC during Auburn's 2010 national title run and head coach during another visit to the national championship in 2013, Gus Malzahn was skating on thin ice through 2016 before upsetting Alabama last season to win the SEC West.

AL.com/Julie Bennett

4. Auburn: $91.7 million

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This was the third straight season of struggle for War Eagle after its BCS national championship appearance in 2013, putting Gus Malzahn on the hot seat. (He cooled it last season with an upset of Alabama and a West title.) The Tigers went 8-5 capped by an ugly Sugar Bowl loss to Oklahoma.

Still, the faithful showed up to Jordan-Hare Stadium, failing to sell out only three of eight home games by a few hundred patrons. That put a football profit of $48.9M in the books after expenses. Though AU ranked 4th in the SEC in gross football revenue, it would have ranked 2nd in the Big Ten, behind only Michigan.

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Georgia fans were hopeful when rookie head coach Kirby Smart ran onto the Sanford Stadium field for the 2016 spring game. But they couldn't have dreamed he'd get the Bulldogs within an eyelash of the 2017 national title last season.

AP/John Bazemore

3. Georgia: $93.3 million

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This was the first season of the Kirby Smart era after he emigrated from Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama. It was a struggle in transitioning from longtime coach Mark Richt who’d been the Bulldogs’ coach the previous 15 seasons; the Dawgs went 8-5 and managed a minor upset of Texas Christian in the Liberty Bowl.

But it's never a bad day between the hedges at the cash register. Georgia passed Auburn for 3rd place in gross revenue as all six games at Sanford Stadium were sellouts as were two split-gate matches – North Carolina in Atlanta and the Cocktail Party in Jacksonville with Florida. UGa's take after expenses was a robust $56.9M.

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Nobody does it better than Nick Saban.

AP/Butch Dill

2. Alabama: $108.1 million

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No game day atmosphere in the nation is more impressive than that at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. And that's before you even get to watching the most overwhelming product in the sport. Saban's Crimson Tide have been in the last three national championship games, winning two, and all four College Football Playoffs. This was the year they were edged by Clemson 35-31 in the title game at Tampa. Bama's listed football expenses of $62.2M were the largest in college football and so its balance was a relatively modest $45.9M.

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No matter the chaos in the Tennessee football program, the faithful never seem to stop showing up at massive Neyland Stadium or buying that orange gear.

AP photo

1. Tennessee: $110.7 million

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Though the disappointing 2016 season was stunted by injuries, especially on defense, that didn't stop the turnstiles at ancient Neyland Stadium (nation's 5th largest capacity). Seven massive home crowds included Florida and Alabama and averaged >100K. Then there was a neutral split-gate of 156,990 against Virginia Tech at the Bristol Motor Speedway stock car track, the largest crowd ever to see an American football game. UT's net take after expenses was a gargantuan $78.1M, largest by far in the league, as it remained the richest member of the richest conference.

Who knew the most lucrative program in the richest league would fire coach Butch Jones the following season and endure a Keystone Kops hiring sequence before finally settling on Alabama DC Jeremy Pruitt?

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EMAIL/TWITTER DAVID JONES: djones@pennlive.com

Follow @djoneshoop

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