A Look At 2011-12 ACC Athletic Department Financials

According to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Education, the athletic department at Boston College generated over $66 million during the 2011-12 fiscal year. That figure ranked sixth in the conference behind Florida State, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke and Clemson.

Though BC finished in the top half of the conference in terms of revenue, the athletic department was one of three ACC schools whose departments didn't report a profit during 2011-12.

Need proof that Boston College is still a football school? Football generated more than 4 1/3 times the revenue that men's basketball produces. Only at Clemson and Georgia Tech did football revenues outstrip men's basketball revenues by a higher factor.

The Eagles' men's hoops revenue -- $4,997,434 -- ranked last in the conference. Of the Eagles total revenue in 2011-12, 33 percent came from football-related revenues. Only the Duke, Maryland and Virginia football programs contributed less to athletic department revenues than BC.

Schools that participate in federal student aid programs are required to report revenues to the DoE as part of the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. You can take a look at the complete data set here. Schools do use different accounting methods to report the data, making it difficult to compare numbers. But this does give you a general idea of the fiscal health of the various school's athletic departments.

The Birmingham News recently published a breakdown of the data for every BCS conference school. Of note, gaps continue to widen both across and within BCS conferences. The athletic department that generated the most revenue in 2011-12, Florida State, only ranked 25th nationally.

Here's a closer look at the numbers for all ACC athletic departments:

Total Revenues (BCS rank in parenthesis)
1 (25). Florida State - $81,444,039
2 (26). Virginia - $81,321,219
3 (31). North Carolina - $78,830,350
4 (32). Duke - $78,604,895
5 (42). Clemson - $66,988,424
6 (43). Boston College - $66,197,029
7 (44). N.C. State - $65,507,243
8 (45). Virginia Tech - $64,801,681
9 (50). Maryland - $62,612,370
10 (51). Miami - $62,099,601
11 (54). Georgia Tech - $60,253,966
12 (64). Wake Forest - $48,776,185

Total Profit
1. Virginia - $6,839,869
2. Virginia Tech - $3,752,954
3. Wake Forest - $3,586,168
4. N.C. State - $1,370,235
5. Maryland - $675,996
6. North Carolina - $558,646
7. Duke - $380,330
8. Miami - $216,098
9. Georgia Tech - $133,377
10. Boston College - $0
10. Clemson - $0
10. Florida State - $0

Men's Basketball Revenue (% of revenue attributed to basketball in parenthesis)
1. Duke - $25,665,732 (33%)
2. North Carolina - $24,011,268 (30%)
3. N.C. State - $12,758,543 (19%)
4. Maryland - $12,527,478 (20%)
5. Virginia Tech - $11,121,774 (17%)
6. Miami - $9,436,615 (15%)
7. Florida State - $8,218,140 (10%)
8. Wake Forest - $8,158,064 (17%)
9. Clemson - $7,027,905 (10%)
10. Virginia - $6,985,089 (9%)
11. Georgia Tech - $5,754,667 (10%)
12. Boston College - $4,997,434 (8%)

Football Revenue (% of revenue attributed to football in parenthesis)
1. Clemson - $39,207,780 (59%)
2. Florida State - $34,484,786 (42%)
3. Virginia Tech - $32,989,216 (51%)
4. Georgia Tech - $32,104,928 (53%)
5. Miami - $29,278,750 (47%)
6. North Carolina - $27,626,613 (35%)
7. N.C. State - $25,482,653 (39%)
8. Duke - $25,373,767 (32%)
9. Virginia - $24,074,798 (30%)
10. Boston College - $21,674,975 (33%)
11. Maryland - $19,457,684 (31%)
12. Wake Forest - $17,664,266 (36%)

ACC expansion notes:

-- The Big East's Louisville is currently the conference's highest earner, generating nearly $89 million dollars in total revenue. It's men's basketball team generated $42,434,684 in revenue, blowing both Duke and North Carolina out of the water. The Cardinals football revenue ranks 10th on the above list, placing them slightly below Virginia.

-- UofL's basketball revenue in 2011-12 was greater than the combined revenue of the men's basketball programs at Florida State, Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia, Georgia Tech and Boston College.

-- Syracuse's football program generated over $28 million in revenue, placing the Orange sixth on the conference list behind Clemson, Florida State, both Techs and Miami. Orange men's basketball would rank tops in the conference, ahead of both North Carolina and Duke. 'Cuse's total revenue ranked a respectable 35th nationally.

-- Pittsburgh would rank ahead of only Wake Forest on the conference's top earners list, bringing in $56.3 million in 11-12. Pitt's football revenue would rank slightly higher than BC's while Panthers basketball ranks 5th behind Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State and Maryland.

-- Maryland generated $62.6 million in 2011-12, which would rank ahead of only Northwestern in the Big Ten. Rutgers ($57.5 million) would have ranked last, below both Maryland and Northwestern.