money The Richest College Basketball Programs in America
The NCAA hands out trophies to the men’s and women’s basketball teams that win the NCAA Tournaments each season, honoring the schools that survive the grueling three-week tournaments to claim the national championship.
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Although there’s no trophy for the schools that rake in the most cash, GOBankingRates decided to rank the top 25 programs by combined revenue for men’s and women’s programs.
The average yearly revenue for the schools on the list is $25,361,581, and that number is mostly drawn from the men’s programs, which average $22,436,239 in revenue. Most of the schools are (surprise, surprise) major programs in top conferences, but there are a few outliers as well, including the top-ranked team in this year’s NCAA Tournament: Gonzaga.
Read on to see which schools are ranked, and you might be surprised by the No. 1 program.
Last updated: March 18, 2021
25. Dayton
Total Basketball Revenue: $17,709,402
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $16,281,364
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $1,428,038
The Flyers have a long history of tournament success, reaching the national championship game in 1967 and the Elite Eight in 1984 and 2017.
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24. Texas
Total Basketball Revenue: $18,798,436
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $16,493,236
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $2,305,200
Despite three Final Four appearances, the Longhorn men are still seeking their first national championship. The women won it all in 1986 and also made three Final Fours.
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23. Kansas
Total Basketball Revenue: $19,059,926
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $18,974,009
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $85,917
The Jayhawks basketball program is all about the men’s team. Kansas is one of the blue bloods of college basketball, with three national championships and six runner-up finishes.
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22. Pittsburgh
Total Basketball Revenue: $19,166,209
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $13,220,336
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $5,945,873
The Panthers have played against elite competition for most of their basketball program’s lifetime, including stints in the Big East and ACC. The men’s team has seven Sweet 16 appearances, while the women reached the Sweet 16 twice.
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21. Baylor
Total Basketball Revenue: $19,345,594
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $9,860,432
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $9,485,162
The men’s and women’s programs bring in almost equal revenue because the Baylor women’s team has three national championships and is a perennial power.
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20. Minnesota
Total Basketball Revenue: $19,925,229
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $18,835,871
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $1,089,358
The Golden Gophers, who play in the rough-and-tumble Big Ten, made the 1997 Final Four.
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19. Gonzaga
Total Basketball Revenue: $20,087,825
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $16,147,924
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $3,939,901
Gonzaga is the epitome of the “new blood” instead of “blue blood” in college basketball. The tiny Jesuit school from Spokane, Washington, has been to every NCAA Tournament since 1999, reaching the title game in 2017. The women’s team is a growing power as well.
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18. Tennessee
Total Basketball Revenue: $20,508,010
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $17,003,826
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $3,504,184
The women’s program at Tennessee has a history of success, with eight national championships under legendary coach Pat Summit. The men’s program has been a regular NCAA Tournament participant in recent years.
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17. TCU
Total Basketball Revenue: $21,294,128
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $14,852,389
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $6,441,739
The Horned Frogs men’s team hasn’t been to the Elite Eight since 1968, while the women’s team hasn’t been past the second round in its history.
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16. Michigan
Total Basketball Revenue: $21,580,821
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $21,114,322
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $466,499
The Wolverines men’s team won the national championship in 1989 but might be even better known for the “Fab Five” teams of Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson in 1991 and 1992, when the team made consecutive national championship games.
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15. Arkansas
Total Basketball Revenue: $21,922,477
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $21,424,702
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $497,775
Under coach Nolan Richardson and his famed “40 Minutes of Hell” pressing defense, the Razorbacks won the 1994 national title and reached the 1995 title game. The Arkansas women reached the Final Four in 1998.
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14. Illinois
Total Basketball Revenue: $22,074,365
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $21,419,589
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $654,776
The Illini men were runners-up in 2005 and reached four other Final Fours. The women’s team made the Sweet 16 in back-to-back years, 1997-1998.
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13. Arizona
Total Basketball Revenue: $23,489,226
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $22,437,254
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $1,051,972
The Arizona men’s basketball team has long been a power in the West, winning the 1997 championship and finishing second in 2001. The Wildcats women’s team reached a high point with a Sweet 16 berth in 1998.
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12. Wisconsin
Total Basketball Revenue: $23,772,082
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $21,701,868
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $2,070,214
The Badgers men’s team won the national championship in 1941, then didn’t return to the title game until 2015. Wisconsin does have two other Final Four appearances. The women’s team has never reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
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11. Florida State
Total Basketball Revenue: $24,453,445
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $16,773,013
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $7,680,432
The Seminoles’ women’s program has the second-largest revenue behind Baylor in the rankings, and the program has reached three Elite Eights. The men’s team made the Final Four just once, in 1972.
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10. Michigan State
Total Basketball Revenue: $24,477,188
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $23,808,250
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $668,938
The Spartans men’s program has been one of the most successful of the 2000s, winning the national championship in 2000 and reaching seven Final Fours. The women’s program reached the 2005 Final Four.
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9. Purdue
Total Basketball Revenue: $24,861,045
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $18,017,191
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $6,843,854
The Boilermakers men have the most Big Ten Conference championships with 24, and the team has made two Final Fours. The women’s team won the 1999 championship.
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8. Ohio State
Total Basketball Revenue: $25,747,924
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $24,953,122
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $794,802
The Buckeyes men’s program won the 1960 championship and reached 11 Final Fours. The women’s team finished as runners-up in 1993.
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7. Marquette
Total Basketball Revenue: $26,428,721
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $21,856,683
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $4,572,038
Marquette’s men’s team won the 1977 national title under legendary coach Al Maguire, and the program also reached the Final Four in 1974 and 2003. The women’s team made the second round six times.
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6. Indiana
Total Basketball Revenue: $27,316,404
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $27,008,415
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $307,989
The Hoosiers have five national basketball titles, which is fitting since Indiana is known for its basketball. The Indiana women haven’t had the same success, reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament just three times.
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5. North Carolina
Total Basketball Revenue: $27,894,970
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $27,076,307
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $818,663
The Tar Heels’ men’s program has six national championships, while the women won in 1994.
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4. Syracuse
Total Basketball Revenue: $36,956,351
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $34,567,071
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $2,389,280
Syracuse’s men have one national championship (in 2003) but is a perennial contender, with six Final Four appearances. The Orange women’s team was runner-up in 2016.
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3. Kentucky
Total Basketball Revenue: $39,298,874
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $38,829,651
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $469,223
The Wildcats have the largest discrepancy between men’s and women’s revenue at $38,360,428. The Kentucky men’s program has won eight national championships. The Wildcats women have reached four Elite Eights.
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2. Duke
Total Basketball Revenue: $39,311,445
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $35,489,891
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $3,821,554
Under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, Duke has become a college powerhouse. The Blue Devils have won five national championships in his tenure. The women’s team has two runner-up finishes, in 1999 and 2006.
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1. Louisville
Total Basketball Revenue: $48,559,421
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $42,759,248
Women’s Basketball Revenue: $5,800,173
The Cardinals’ basketball program blows everyone else out of the water, with nearly $9 million more in revenue than the next program on the list. The Louisville men have three national titles and 10 Final Four appearances, while the women’s program is a growing power, with two runner-up finishes and three Final Fours since 2009.
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Methodology: For this piece GOBankingRates used the United States Department of Education’s “Equity in Athletics Data Analysis” (EADA) dataset to find (1) total basketball revenues; (2) men’s basketball revenues; and (3) women’s basketball revenues for all NCAA Division I schools all in FY18-19 data (the most recent available). Only the top 50 schools in terms of factor (1) were included in the final list. All data was collected on and up to date as of March 1, 2021.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: The Richest College Basketball Programs in America
