Monday's matchup between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama in college football's national-championship game has sparked a mild debate over whether these two teams—whose meeting earlier this season resulted in a grindingly dull 9-6 LSU victory—are the best possible pairing.

LSU and Alabama are definitely the nation's top programs in another regard—how much football matters to a school's bottom line.

Based on information from NCAA financial-disclosure forms from 45 major-conference schools, which were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, LSU and Alabama also rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation in the percentage of total campus revenue that's derived from football.

At LSU, for instance, the school reported annual football revenue of $69.4 million in 2009-10, a sum that includes everything from ticket sales and fan donations to conference TV payments. LSU also reported that its Baton Rouge, La., campus generated a total of $488.9 million in revenue from all sources, tuition included. By these figures, football accounted for 14% of LSU's gross income.

Alabama, which reported football revenue of $72.8 million in 2009-10 (the highest for any school sampled) and total campus revenues of $660.8 million, earned a final mark of 11%.