Roughly $1.6M will be paid to the ACC for every game a team plays in the tournament up to the title gameGETTY IMAGES
While it is "good news for the ACC that four teams advanced to the Sweet 16," as many as any other conference in the NCAA Tournament, it is "actually bad financial news for the conference," according to Luke DeCock of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. The ACC gets one "unit" -- or roughly $1.6M paid out over a six-year span -- from the NCAA for "every game a conference team plays in the tournament up to the title game." Having the four teams "spread out among four different regionals would maximize the ACC's monetary gain." But zero ACC teams "compete in Atlanta this weekend, right in the instep of the fabled footprint," and three have "somehow arrived in Omaha" -- Duke, Syracuse and Clemson. Florida State will play in L.A. So far this year, the ACC has collected 19 of the $1.6M units, and will "get either one or two more out of the Omaha regional, plus perhaps another if an ACC team advances" to the Final Four. Florida State "could bring in as many as three more units." The conference is "capped at 25 units, will get a minimum of 20 units and is probably more likely to fall into the 21-22 range, something like" $35M paid out over the next six years. Whereas if "all four teams were in different regionals, the ACC could have gotten to 31 with an all-ACC Final Four." Unlikely, but "possible -- and with an extra" $15M bonus. There is "still money to be made, just not as much as there would be if there had been" one ACC team in each regional (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 3/22).
GAME READY: In Boston Stephen Hewitt notes as the tourney descends on the city this weekend, TD Garden is "sold out for all three games" it is hosting. Even though Boston "isn’t rich in college basketball history, it shouldn’t negatively affect the experience" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/22).
