These college football teams paid how much to face smaller schools? Cost of Week 1 buy games
By Austen Bundy
According to Action Network's Brett McMurphy, Auburn paid New Mexico State $1.85 million to visit Jordan-Hare Stadium last year. The Aggies then said, "Thank you kindly -- and oh, by the way, here's a massive L." The SEC's Tigers fell 31-10 to an independent team that would ultimately win three more games than them that season.
Typically, teams dropping that kind of cash beat smaller schools rather handily, hence why the checks are necessary to lure them onto the schedule in the first place.
Here's a list of the Week 1 matchups with the biggest payouts for small schools and how the Power Conference team fared:
College football buy games in Week 1: How much Power 4 teams paid
Matchup | Payout | Result |
|---|---|---|
Western Kentucky @ No. 5 Alabama | $1.9 million to WKU | 63-0 Alabama |
Fresno State @ No. 9 Michigan | $1.85 million to Fresno St. | 30-10 Michigan |
Akron @ No. 2 Ohio State | $1.8 million to Akron | 52-6 Ohio State |
Colorado State @ No. 4 Texas | $1.7 million to Colorado St. | 52-0 Texas |
UTEP @ Nebraska | $1.65 million to UTEP | 40-7 Nebraska |
1. Western Kentucky v. No. 5 Alabama: $1.9 million
The Crimson Tide were 31.5 point favorites entering Saturday night, so the effort (or lack of) by Western Kentucky was rather surprising. Losing by over 60 points and failing to put up any offense at all isn't a symptom of receiving $1.9 million -- at least we hope so.
2. Fresno State v. No. 9 Michigan: $1.85 million
Fresno State came the closest of anyone to pulling off the paid upset, getting as close as six points in the fourth quarter. But the Wolverines were just too much to handle in the end. The Bulldogs took their check and tucked their tails on their way back to California.
3. Akron v. No. 2 Ohio State: $1.8 million
The Zips' trip to Columbus resulted in a 52-6 bludgeoning but a fat $1.8 million check softened the blows (well, some of them). At least Akron can hang its hat on the fact that it scored twice as many points against the No. 2 team in the country as Clemson did against the No. 1 team in the country.
4. Colorado State v. No. 4 Texas: $1.7 million
The same school that took Deion Sanders' Colorado to double-overtime last season was shut out Saturday by Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns. Quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning certainly made fans feel like Texas is back. The Rams at least get to go home $1.7 million richer than they were this morning.
5. UTEP v. Nebraska: $1.65 million
The Cornhuskers hadn't won a season-opener since 2019 and the lowly Miners just happened to be in their crosshairs this year. The 40-7 score line wasn't necessarily indicative of how hard UTEP played but when you get ripped up by a true freshman quarterback being compared to Patrick Mahomes, a $1.65 million helps lessen the pain.
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