How Conferences Cash In on March Madness 

The NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments can earn conferences and their schools millions through the “units program,” a prize pool paying out hundreds of millions of dollars based on how far teams advance. 

This year, the men’s tournament will offer more than $220 million, while the women’s tournament will offer about $20 million. 

Here’s how it works: Each conference receives a payment for its automatic qualifier, or conference tournament champion. Then, the “units,” or slices of the overall prize pool are awarded to the conference of each team that receives an at-large bid. All schools earn an additional unit for each round they advance. New this year: Schools will earn one unit for advancing to the championship game, and another for winning the title. 

Men’s Tournament Units

Last year, the SEC earned a record $26 million on Selection Sunday when it sent 14 teams (13 of which were at-large programs) to the men’s Big Dance. While the SEC is sending fewer programs this year, it still ranks at the top of all conferences in both bids and earnings with 10 overall schools, followed by the Big Ten with 9, and the Big 12 and the ACC with 8 each.

However, conferences don’t get that money up-front—they’re paid out on a six-year rolling basis. What’s more, each conference has a different way of divvying up the payouts. The ACC, for example, has promised to give all the money to the specific schools that earn them, while other conferences divide them equally among all schools, even those that don’t make the tournament. 

Women’s Tournament Units

After the NCAA signed a new and more lucrative media rights deal, the NCAA began offering units for  the women’s basketball tournament in 2025. The program was heralded by coaches as the most important step in the battle for equity in college basketball.

For the women’s tournament, the unit distribution rules are the same, though the money is paid out on a three-year rolling basis, rather than a six-year basis. The pool is also smaller than the men’s. However, the percentage of the media rights deal offered to the women as units is the same percentage as that offered to the men’s tournament when their media deal started: 26%.

For the women’s tournament, the Big Ten is sending the most programs with 12, led by overall No. 2 seed UCLA. The SEC follows with 10, the ACC with 9, and the Big 12 with 8.