Dusty May: Different players stepping up every night was key to our success (1:58)Michigan coach Dusty May joins “First Take” after his team’s victory over UConn for the national title. (1:58)
Associated PressMultiple AuthorsApr 9, 2026, 01:27 PM ET
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 — Michigan won the men’s and UCLA the women’s — and had Illinois’ men’s team advance to the Final Four.
The NCAA, which has multibillion-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.
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). Other 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 are directed to distribution payments — 24% for the men and 41% for the women.
The Big Ten’s nine teams in the men’s tournament appeared in 29 games. Michigan earned $14.7 million for the conference by playing in six games and receiving a seventh unit for winning the championship. Illinois earned five units for making the Final Four ($10.5 million) and Iowa and Purdue four apiece for reaching the Elite Eight ($8.4 million each).
The Big Ten landed 12 teams in the women’s tournament, and they combined to play in 31 games. UCLA earned just over $1.4 million by playing in six games and receiving an extra unit for winning the championship. Michigan’s four games earned $804,000 and Minnesota’s three earned $603,000.
The championships in men’s and women’s basketball continued what has been a banner 2025-26 for the Big Ten. Indiana won the conference’s third straight College Football Playoff, and other national championships have been won in men’s wrestling (Penn State), women’s ice hockey (Wisconsin), men’s water polo (UCLA), men’s soccer (Washington) and field hockey (Northwestern).
Dusty May: Different players stepping up every night was key to our success (1:58)Michigan coach Dusty May joins “First Take” after his team’s victory over UConn for the national title. (1:58)
Michigan coach Dusty May joins “First Take” after his team’s victory over UConn for the national title. (1:58)