As March Madness rolls on, four schools are cashing in big time with both their men’s and women’s basketball teams heading to the Sweet 16.
Duke, Connecticut, Michigan, and Texas have each advanced past the second round in both tournaments. That success means key revenue in the form of NCAA tournament units typically paid out to each school’s conference.
This year, the men’s tournament will offer more than $220 million in bonus money, with teams earning $2 million (paid out over six years) for their conference for every game they play in. The women’s tournament will offer about $20 million, with teams earning roughly $250,000 (paid out over three years) for their conference for each game they play in.
That means Duke, UConn, Michigan, and Texas have already guaranteed about $4.5 million in bonus money each for the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, and SEC, respectively. Sweet 16 games begin for the men’s tournament on Thursday and Friday for the women’s.
In 2025, four teams also made both men’s and women’s Sweet 16: Duke, Maryland, Ole Miss, and Tennessee.
The Fantastic Four
Duke is the top overall seed in the men’s tournament, and a No. 3 seed in the women’s, while UConn is a No. 2 in the men’s and a No. 1 in the women’s. UConn is the only school to win both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournament in the same year, which happened twice in 2004 and 2014.
Michigan is a No. 1 seed in the men’s tournament and No. 2 in the women’s. Texas is the biggest outlier, with its men’s team a No. 11 seed and its women’s squad a No. 1 seed.
Men’s March Madness tipped off last week with the most-watched opening day of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament on record. The 16 games broadcast across CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV on Thursday averaged 9.8 million viewers, which is up 6% from last year’s opening day, which also set a record at the time.
Viewership for women’s March Madness has not yet been released.
