Big Ten Conference Earns Nearly $70M in March Madness Incentives

The Big Ten Conference amassed nearly $70 million from NCAA distributions that will be paid for team appearances and performances in the 2026 men's and women's basketball tournaments.

That is by far the most among conferences, largely because the Big Ten swept the national championships — the Michigan Wolverines won the men's and the UCLA Bruins the women's — and had the Illinois Fighting Illini advance to the men's Final Four.

The NCAA, which has multi-billion dollar broadcast deals for the two tournaments since 1991, has rewarded conferences for their number of tournament bids and how far those teams advance in the men’s tournament. A similar system for the women’s tournament began in 2025.

The dollars are piling up:

— For this year's tournaments, nine men's teams and 12 women's teams from the Big Ten combined to make at least $69.4 million, with $63 million coming from the men's side.

— The Southeastern Conference, which had 10 teams in each tournament, totaled at least $56.2 million ($50.4 million for men, $5.8 million for women).

— Distributions will total at least $42.9 million for the Big 12, $34.2 million for the Atlantic Coast Conference and $22.2 million for the Big East.

The NCAA sends payments directly to the conferences, which distribute the money among their teams according to their policies. Payments for the 2026 tournament will begin in April 2027.

Teams in each tournament earn what's known as a "unit" for making the field of 68 and an additional unit for each round in which it appears. The national champion is awarded an extra unit. The value of a unit increases each year. A portion of revenue from the tournaments' broadcast agreements is directed to distribution payments, 24% for the men and 41% for the