Both Oregon schools may have been bounced from the Men’s NCAA Basketball tournament before the Final Four, but the Pac-12 sent its first school to the dance since 2008. That’s all thanks to UCLA’s unlikely 51-49 win over the No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines. Sure, Johnny Juzang took on the scoring load with 28 points and a hurt ankle but what’s happening for the conference can’t be overlooked.
The Bruins’ win is a financial triumph for the entire conference.
Even before UCLA’s entrance into the Final Four, the inclusion of three conference teams significantly boosted the Pac-12’s interview. According to Darren Rovell from Action Network, “Each game, except the championship game, counts as a unit that the NCAA pays out to the conference for its basketball fund. The basketball fund comes from the tournament’s television deal, which averages $771 million a year.”
Rovell predicts the conference could surpass the tournament revenue record set by the ACC in 2016, which could near $40 million. For a conference in proverbial financial hell thanks to a failed television network and COVID-19, this is an incredibly welcome sign of change.
This type of cash flow will help each conference team and raise recruiting awareness to the west coast. It will also be interesting to see who the conference will hire as their next commissioner and how a new TV deal will benefit viewership.
In the meantime, it’s important to celebrate and enjoy UCLA’s win and hope they stand a puncher’s chance against Gonzaga in the Final Four.