As the first 12-team College Football Playoff field came into focus in the fall of 2024, I set out to get as much information as possible about how much teams were spending on their rosters.

Something I noticed: It was far easier to get information about programs that didn’t have money than those that did.

Coaches playing with short hands want that information out there. It’s in part to motivate donors. But it’s also to explain what’s happening on the field. I’m doing more with less! I don’t have a chance with this budget!

On the other hand, athletic directors, who typically take the heat if the roster spending is lower than what stakeholders believe it should be, are much less likely to be forthcoming.

So as we set out to find out how much every P4 school spent on its 2026 roster, calling more than 70 sources to refine our estimated spending ranges, the bottom of the list was a point of intrigue. Here’s a look at the five schools looking up at the rest, according to our findings. Not all are here for the same reason, but their position is often explainable — and not a death sentence on the field, though it does raise the degree of difficulty.

Boston College ($8 million-$13 million)

The Eagles, last on the list, are in a difficult spot. They’re a private school in the Northeast in a metro area dominated by professional sports, including one of the proudest NFL franchises in the New England Patriots.

Boston College hasn’t won more than seven games since 2009. The leading rusher from last year’s team (Turbo Richard) is now at Indiana, and its second-leading receiver (Reed Harris) is at Arizona State. Head coach Bill O’Brien, a Boston native and former Patriots assistant under Bill Belichick, went 2-10 a season ago after a 7-6 debut in 2024, but the Eagles beat Rutgers last week and on Saturday host Maine before beginning ACC play. They should savor that one, because they are NIL underdogs the rest of the way, including a couple of games where the roster spend is in another stratosphere (Notre Dame, Miami).

Duke ($12 million-$15 million)

Duke would have preferred to keep quarterback Darian Mensah, but losing him to Miami in the final hours of January’s transfer portal window did take a few million off the books. The Blue Devils later added Walker Eget, who spent 2025 at San Jose State.

Coaches hate using the term “Moneyball,” but not many have done it better than Manny Diaz at Duke. The Blue Devils won the school’s first ACC title since 1978 last year and are off to a great start this fall with wins over Tulane and Illinois. Diaz is 20-9 at Duke and 11-5 in conference play.

Iowa State ($13 million-$17 million)

When former coach Matt Campbell took the Penn State job, 55 Iowa State players entered the transfer portal, and many of the top players followed him to Happy Valley. In turn, new coach Jimmy Rogers brought a crowd of players with him from Washington State, a practice that is much cheaper than getting in bidding wars for proven Big 12 portal prospects. Iowa State’s spending will likely need to grow as Rogers establishes himself within an athletic department that cares deeply about football and basketball. That will be a huge emphasis for whoever replaces Jamie Pollard, who is retiring as athletic director next June.

Arizona ($13 million-$18 million)

Coach Brent Brennan has been able to keep big-time talents like quarterback Noah Fifita. But there is a theme to many of the programs that appeared near the bottom of the Power 4 in football roster spend: They’ve had a lot of success on the basketball court. That often means a larger portion of their revenue-sharing money is going to the hardwood, and donors providing money for third-party deals may be more motivated to donate to programs that have more reasonable championship expectations. Arizona just made a Final Four in men’s basketball and is expected to field a top-five team in 2026-27.

Cincinnati ($14 million-$16 million)

The Bearcats made the College Football Playoff in 2021 but did so as a member of the American. They’ve been a member of the Power 4 only since 2023 and are fighting for space in a major city with two pro sports teams. That’s a high degree of difficulty when it comes to keeping up with those above them on this list, even in the Big 12, where only one team’s top end surpassed $25 million.