Financial facts and figures for each Sweet 16 team in the men’s tournament

The teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament include Texas, the athletic department that reported the second-most revenue and expenses in the entire country last year, and also Princeton, whose total program expenditures roughly equal what the Longhorns spent on men’s basketball support staff alone.

Here is one financial observation from each of the teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Private institutions are exempt from public records requests, which applies to 22 teams in this year’s tournament field and five of the remaining teams. The financial data below is from each school’s NCAA financial report or the U.S. Department of Education. Note that accounting interpretations can vary from school to school.

You can view the complete database here.

South Region

No. 1 seed Alabama: Among the 40 public schools examined from the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Alabama reported the third-lowest percentage of its athletic department expenses related to men’s basketball, at roughly 5.6 percent. Only Penn State (4.9 percent) and Kennesaw State (5.5 percent) were lower. But the Crimson Tide’s $195 million in total athletic expenses ranked second behind Texas ($225 million), and its increases in both men’s basketball coaching salaries and program expenses have increased at a similar rate as the athletic department’s expenses. The average annual year-over-year increase in Alabama’s total athletics expenses over the last 10 fiscal years is 5.9 percent. Its average annual year-over-year increase in men’s basketball coaching salaries during that span is 6.3 percent.

No. 5 seed San Diego State: San Diego State has been mentioned as a possible expansion candidate for the Pac-12. San Diego State reported $67 million in total athletic department expenses last year, according to the U.S. Department of Education, which is just more than half of UCLA’s $131 million listed in its NCAA financial report, for reference.

No. 6 seed Creighton: Creighton, a private school, reported to the U.S. Department of Education that it spent almost $10.2 million on its men’s basketball program last year. On3 obtained the latest NCAA financial reports for 40 public schools in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, which provide additional itemization of expenses. The average spending of those 40 was $9.7 million. Creighton doesn’t have football and devotes roughly a third of its athletic budget to men’s basketball, based on Department of Education data.

No. 15 seed Princeton: No. 1 overall seed Alabama, with whom Princeton shares a region, reported spending $824,789 on athletic student aid for men’s basketball players last year. That’s roughly 48 percent of the $1.7 million in total men’s basketball expenses that Princeton reported to the U.S. Department of Education last year. The Ivy League, of course, doesn’t offer athletic scholarships, so the Tigers reported $0 for that category. Princeton’s total reported men’s basketball expenses are 16.9 percent, or roughly one-sixth, of Sweet 16 opponent Creighton’s reported men’s basketball expenses.

East Region

No. 3 seed Kansas State: Kansas State reported the fourth-lowest amount of athletic department revenue in 2022 among the 52 public Power 5 schools nationally with $100.8 million. The average among those schools is nearly $145 million. But in its top two revenue-producing programs, the Wildcats won the Big 12 title in football by beating playoff-bound TCU and now their men’s basketball team is in the Sweet 16 under first-year coach Jerome Tang. Amid the current push in Division I for identifying and maximizing revenue streams, Kansas State provides an example that there’s not always a direct correlation between resources and athletic success. In the Sweet 16, the Wildcats face seventh-seeded Michigan State, which reported roughly 2.1 times as much men’s basketball spending as Kansas State last year — $17.9 million compared to $8.5 million.

No. 4 seed Tennessee: The percentage of Tennessee’s athletic department expenses dedicated to men’s basketball has increased by roughly 35 percent over the course of the past decade. From the 2019 through 2022 fiscal years, men’s basketball made up 9.67, 9.31, 7.75 and 9.33 percent of the athletic department’s total expenses, respectively, for an average of nine percent over those four years. From 2013 through 2018, the average was roughly 6.7 percent. The men’s basketball program’s expenses have increased from just shy of $5 million in 2013 to $14.7 million in 2022.

No. 7 seed Michigan State: The $9.6 million the Spartans spent in 2021-22 on coaching salaries ranked second among the public schools examined, behind only Kentucky’s $11 million.

No. 9 seed FAU: In its NCAA tournament wins over the weekend, FAU was involved in two of the largest budgetary differences, on a percentage basis. FAU played No. 8 seed Memphis in the first round. Memphis reported that 22.1 percent of its 2022 athletic department expenses were for men’s basketball, second only to UConn among the 40 public schools examined. The Tigers reported $13.7 million in men’s basketball expenses; FAU reported $2.7 million, about one-fifth of Memphis’ reported expenses. In the second round, FAU faced No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. FDU, which is private, reported just $1.7 million in men’s basketball expenses in 2022, U.S. Department of Education figures show.

Midwest Region

No. 1 seed Houston: Houston reported $9.7 million in men’s basketball spending to the Department of Education during the last reporting year, which is in line with the average among the 40 public schools that made the tournament for whom On3 has data. The Cougars will soon receive an increase in media rights revenue and conference distributions when they join the Big 12.

No. 2 seed Texas: Texas’ athletic department reported $225.2 million in expenses in 2022, second only to Ohio State’s $225.7 million. Among the 40 public schools examined that made the men’s tournament, the Longhorns’ men’s basketball expenses last year ranks fifth, their spending on coaching salaries is fourth and the cost of their men’s basketball support staffers is third.

No. 3 seed Xavier: Xavier reported spending almost $16.1 million on men’s basketball last year, or nearly 42 percent of the athletic department’s total reported expenses, based on U.S. Department of Education data. That’s a similar level of spending as its next opponent, Texas, which reported spending somewhere between $15.9 million (U.S. Department of Education) and $16.2 million (NCAA financial report).

No. 5 seed Miami: The university’s most recent Form 990 is from the 2019-20 tax year. It lists coach Jim Larranaga’s total reportable and estimated compensation as $2,453,904. Last year, guard Nijel Pack transferred from Kansas State to Miami and signed an NIL deal valued at $800,000 plus a car over two years. That is one of the few high-profile NIL deals where the terms have been announced. Depending on the value of the car Pack drives, his compensation from that deal is roughly 16 percent of what his coach makes.

West Region

No. 2 seed UCLA: Twenty-three percent. That’s the average ratio of UCLA’s reported men’s basketball recruiting expenses compared to its football recruiting expenses over the past five fiscal years, based on its NCAA financial statements. The yearly ratios ranged from 17 percent in 2020 to 28 percent in 2018. In 2022, the Bruins reported a ratio of 20.5 percent. For context, so-called “basketball schools” such as Kentucky, UConn and Indiana checked in at 127 percent, 116 percent and 76 percent last year, respectively. The NCAA financial reports defines recruiting expenses as transportation, lodging and meals for recruits and school employees on official and unofficial visits, plus phone charges and postage. Notably, this category also includes the in-kind value of vehicles or planes that the institution owns or that it used through a loan or contribution. UCLA and its Sweet 16 opponent, Gonzaga, each reported to the Department of Education that they spent $11.9 million on men’s basketball last year.

No. 3 seed Gonzaga: Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, who has spent his first academic year on the job aggressively marketing the conference, has been public about his conversations with university leaders at Gonzaga. Gonzaga is a private university and reported $11.9 million in men’s basketball expenses to the U.S. Department of Education in 2022, a few million behind Texas ($15.8 million) and ahead of soon-to-be Big 12 member Houston ($9.7 million) and Kansas State ($7.6 million). Gonzaga doesn’t offer football, and its spending on men’s basketball reflects the program’s status in the sport.

No. 4 seed UConn: On3 obtained the 2022 NCAA financial reports for 40 of the 68 teams in the men’s field; a reminder that the reports are unavailable for 22 teams because of public records laws. Among the schools examined, UConn’s men’s basketball is responsible for the highest percentage of its athletic department’s total expenses at 25.7 percent. The average among those 40 schools was 10.4 percent. The Huskies’ $24.85 million in men’s basketball expenses was the highest reported total of any school examined.

No. 8 seed Arkansas: The Razorbacks ranked fourth in average attendance this season, at 19,051 fans per home game, behind only North Carolina, Kentucky and Syracuse. Last season, Arkansas reported $7.9 million in men’s basketball ticket sales, which ranks sixth among the 40 public schools examined. That marked a year-over-year increase of $5.3 million from 2021, showing the impact of the pandemic on athletic departments. Arkansas’ 2022 men’s basketball ticket sales were roughly $1 million greater than the 2019-20 season.

This story was updated to reflect Fairleigh Dickinson’s reported expenses from its metropolitan campus rather than its Florham campus.