Do you ever wonder why elite college programs schedule weak teams? For example, College Football National Champion Florida State played Bethune-Cookman this year (and beat them 54-6) or how about #1 ranked Florida played Savannah State two months into this year’s college basketball season. Why do these games take place? Money. Bethune-Cookman and Savannah State got paid to get their butts kicked – money that is much needed for their athletic department.
Fast-forward to the start of the NCAA tournament. It’s no mystery that the NCAA tournament is one of the highest-grossing sports events in THE WORLD. Knowing that, how much do the little guys get paid for making the dance. Cal Poly, Mount St. Mary’s, Albany and Texas Southern each have a chance to earn $1.5 million for their respective athletic programs for making the NCAA Tournament. It’s a crazy scenario that’s broken down into units and units can double with each win in the tournament. Seeing that no 16-seed has ever won a first-round game, they’re usually capped at one unit. That’s nothing to laugh at though….
Most of the big name schools are making units galore throughout the season so one extra unit despite being worth over 7-figures isn’t going to have the impact that it’s going to have on say a Cal Poly. But it’s true, that unit Cal Poly can earn goes a very long way for the team, conference and athletic department. So while you may only see the four 16 seeds for 40 minutes and then they’ll head home, just know that the team did more for the school than just conjure up pride.
Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images
