Texas Tech Red Raiders moneyman Cody Campbell, a Fort Worth oilman worth over $3 billion in assets, believes the Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide are too broke to compete with the big-spenders in the Lone Star State and the Big Ten.
Campbell shaded both schools, but shaded Auburn a bit extra by sharing that he at least respects the Crimson Tide football program. He doesn't believe either can compete with the Texas Longhorns in the SEC, though.
“You can look at the transfer portal rankings right now. Schools like Alabama and Auburn are struggling. They don’t have the booster support. Nothing against Alabama, I have a ton of respect for that program. But they can’t raise the money like the University of Texas can… They don’t have as much money in the institution itself, they don’t have the donor support," Campbell said on Will Cain Country.
As for who he believes will be sustainable in this brave new world, Campbell shared confidence in the Indiana Hoosiers having a several-year run. Even IU won't last long at the top, though, according to Campbell.
“The identity of the blue bloods are changing. So, certain schools that have historically been really good or had a great brand or won national championships in the past won’t anymore. It will be the schools that have the financial resources that will. You’ll start to see Indiana start to show up every year and people will say ‘I’m kind of tired of Indiana’ after a while. You’re just trading one group of blue bloods for another," Campbell said.
Paul Finebaum believes Auburn can compete in NIL/rev-share era
Paul Finebaum believes Auburn has a better chance of surviving the NIL/rev-share rat race than Alabama because of the presence of billionaires in the state who support the Tigers over the Crimson Tide.
“We’re talking billionaires now and outside of Texas and Texas A&M, the list of billionaires starts to get really thin. I could tell you in the state of Alabama, there are two billionaires, only two in the entire state. They’re both Auburn supporters. Alabama doesn’t have a billionaire. And why is a billionaire important Matt? Because they can throw around money. You could throw around money if you’re worth $800 million too but it’s a little bit easier if you’re a billionaire to give your school, not only to put your father’s name on the business building, but to give your NIL fund whatever it needs," Finebaum said during a recent appearance on The Matt Barrie Show.
“And you just can’t call the commissioner of the SEC and say here you have to solve this problem. You can’t print money unless you got your keys to the printing press and it’s a problem.”
One of those billionaires Finebaum is referring to was Jimmy Buffett, who died in 2023. Jimmy Rane, aka the "Yellafella" and CEO of Great Southern Wood, is Auburn's lone moneyman, and while he isn't worth anywhere close to what Campbell is, he is guaranteed to continue supporting the program until further notice.
It's Alabama that doesn't have that. We'll see how long the program will be seen as respectable as the new blue bloods shuffle in and the Crimson blood exits stage left.