Record March Madness payout for the SEC: This is the amount the NCAA will have to pay the conference
The SEC has made significant strides as a basketball powerhouse and those efforts will literally pay off with a historic total paid by the NCAA.
As March Madness took off this year, the SEC had a record 14 of its 16 teams qualify for the tournament. By the Sweet 16, the SEC broke the record for most teams in that round of the tournament with seven total - Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida.
By the Elite Eight round, half the teams (four) were SEC teams, a tie with the record set by the ACC in 2016. Now, the Final Four sees the SEC’s two No. 1 teams - Auburn and Florida - playing for a shot at the championship game. They’ve also got two teams playing in the Final Four for women’s basketball as well - South Carolina and Texas.
Remaining March Madness men’s schedule:
Final Four: Saturday, April 5
- No. 1 Florida vs. No. 1 Auburn, 6:09 p.m ET
- No. 1 Duke vs. No. 1 Houston, 8:49 p.m. ET
NCAA Championship Game: Monday, April 7
- 8:50 p.m. ET
Record payout for SEC
The success of the SEC in this year’s tournament will result in a record payout by the NCAA. The association distributes hundreds of millions of dollars during the tournament each year, with the money going directly to each conference based on its success. Every game in this year’s tournament is worth about $2 million per conference.
The SEC will have played 35 games before the final on April 7. That means that the SEC will receive around $70 million for its performance in this year’s March Madness - the largest in tournament history, surpassing the ACC’s $50 million in 2016.
The Big Ten was second, earning about $42 million this year, and the Big 12 was third, earning $40 million. The smaller conferences fared far worse, with 20 leagues earning just one “unit”, worth $2 million.
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The SEC’s success has translated into a major financial windfall that will be distributed over the next six years. This marks a milestone not only for the men’s tournament but also for the first year of payouts in the women’s tournament, though on a smaller scale (with a pool of $15 million).
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