How much do college teams receive in 'prize money' for attending and or winning in the NCAA tournament?
The NCAA tournament distributes money to conferences based upon
how many games the member teams play in the tournament. Then the
conference divides that money equally among the member teams. For
participation in the tournament the NCAA gives teams a travel
allowance for each game that they play, but the real money comes
from their share of the conference money. For example the MVC
received $2.95 million based upon its success between 2000-2005,
whereas the Big 12 received $14.4 million. Teams that make it to
the first round this year and lose receive $82,000 in travel money,
and they receive more if they advance.