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Cooper Flagg missed a potential game winning shot in Duke's loss to Houston on Saturday. (Photo by ... More Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
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When Cooper Flagg drained a three from the right corner on Saturday night in San Antonio, Duke appeared on the precipice of its first appearance in the national championship since 2015.
But Houston swarmed back with a furious rally, erasing a nine-point deficit over the final 135 seconds for a thrilling victory. The historic comeback deprived the country of a matchup between Flagg and Walter Clayton Jr. in Monday’s NCAA title game. While the showdown may not have garnered the ratings of Magic-Bird in 1979, Flagg has been compared favorably to the Celtics’ legend as recently as last month’s Sweet 16.
From a revenue sharing perspective, though, Houston did not earn an additional cent for the Big 12 with Saturday’s scintillating comeback. That’s because the unit system the NCAA utilizes for rewarding conferences for team performance in March Madness does not factor wins from the Final Four. Hours before Monday’s national championship, a federal judge in Oakland will convene a hearing on a landmark NCAA revenue sharing settlement.
With a victory over UCF in Sunday’s College Basketball Crown final, Nebraska received a $300,000 NIL package. The inaugural event marked the first time players collected an NIL payment for performance in a postseason basketball tournament. If approved, the House vs. NCAA settlement will allow each school to share up to $20.5 million with its athletes starting next season. Given the rapidly changing landscape in college athletics, it is fair to question whether the March Madness winner should receive financial compensation for bringing their school a national title.
An explainer on unit distribution
The NCAA’s broadcast deal with CBS and Turner, which runs through 2032, is worth approximately $1 billion each year. A portion of the revenues funnel back to the conferences through a unit distribution system. One unit, which is disbursed to each conference over a six-year installment, is valued at about $2 million.
There were 132 units up for grabs at this year’s tournament – 68 for each participating school and 64 for every victory up to the Final Four. Florida will cap a historic year for the SEC with a win over Houston on Monday night. The conference set NCAA tournament records for teams with 14 and participants in the Sweet 16 with seven.
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