The Rich Get Richer

(St. Louis, MO) – Wichita State and Northern Iowa produced a lot of money for Missouri Valley Conference programs this Spring. However, the deck is stacked against conferences outside the so-called ‘power five’ leagues in terms of really cashing in.

College basketball teams earn money for themselves and the other teams in their respective conferences with every March Madness game in which they participate. This year the teams earned roughly $256,000 per ‘unit’ and the units are paid out in six annual payments.

Since the Shockers and Panthers participated in five NCAA tournament games, they earned $1,276, 895 for the Valley programs, or $127,690 per program each of the next six seasons. That’s a nice paycheck, but the ‘money conferences’ have all the advantages and those advantages are multiplied every day.

Since the money leagues protect themselves from playing high level ‘mid-major’ teams, and rarely play dangerous road games, they artificially inflate their Ratings Power Index and then earn what some would call, illegitimate NCAA tournament births. With those extra teams in the tournament, the league earns more money than a league like the MVC or the Ohio Valley Conference, before the tournament ever starts.

With all that extra money those teams can ‘buy’ home games against lower level teams and rack up a strong RPI before they ever get into conference play and then with inflated RPI’s they simply play one-another and that RPI remains high. Rinse and repeat. It is a never ending cycle that so-called ‘mid-majors’ can’t change without systemic change in the way the NCAA does business.

By way of example, the Big 12 placed seven teams in he tournament, so they were going to earn $1,787,653 without winning a game. The Big 12 won five of 12 games. Those 12 games netted the members $3,064,548 per season over the next six.

I would have no problem with this formula, if the determination of who would be in March Madness wasn’t so stacked against mid-majors from the beginning. It all reproduces itself and then nets the money leagues exactly what they are working for, more money.

What if every conference tournament winner was seeded in the top 32 and had every other ‘at large’ team seeded by the selection committee, just like they do it now. However, by placing the ‘champions’ in the top 32, some of those geographically placed games would actually favor the low and mid major teams instead of the ‘money leagues.’

Not only is the RPI, and thus the selection of tournament teams stacked in favor the football power conferences, but then many of the games are set in locations that favor those same teams that didn’t earn their way in by winning a championship.

Perhaps if Belmont was able to play in Louisville instead of Charlotte, maybe they defeat Virginia, a team they played tough, but lost to in Atlantic Coast Conference territory. We saw what Dayton was able to do playing close to home (well actually AT HOME!), and how well Georgia State did playing in Jacksonville, Florida.

Money conferences have a built in RPI and home court advantage all season long, and thus get more teams in the national tournament, and then frequently get a geographic advantage once they are in the tournament, and because of all that, they make more money from the NCAA fund too. It becomes a vicious cycle that the lower and mid major teams can’t change.

It’s time for some of those factors to change, but in the mean time, congratulations to the MVC who participated in five tournament games, earned some good cash and won two of the other ‘sub-tournaments’. The Valley continues to bite back against the money conferences and 2015-16 appears to be a year for Valley squads to do some damage.

Do Good