Of the 68 teams in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, Duke is No. 1 for how much money it makes, grossing more than $34 million – or $2.1 million per player – in 2016, according to a Higher Education Tribune analysis of the latest federal data.
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education compiles athletics data annually from more than 2,000 schools receiving federal financial aid.
More than 1,900 of those schools have men's basketball programs. In all, they grossed more than $2 billion in 2016. Nearly a third of that – $620 million – belongs to the teams in the tournament.
Syracuse University grossed $29 million, followed by University of Kentucky ($28 million), Indiana University ($25 million) and University of Arizona ($23 million)
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March Madness: Men's college basketball revenue
| School | Total undergraduates | Men's basketball players | Men's basketball revenue | Revenue per athlete | |
| 1 | Duke University | 6,449 | 16 | $34,398,285 | $2,149,893 |
| 2 | Syracuse University | 14,324 | 19 | $29,322,084 | $1,543,268 |
| 3 | University of Kentucky | 20,772 | 15 | $27,965,227 | $1,864,348 |
| 4 | University of Arizona | 29,049 | 15 | $23,434,825 | $1,562,322 |
| 5 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 17,828 | 18 | $21,408,475 | $1,189,360 |
| 6 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 20,719 | 16 | $18,322,729 | $1,145,171 |
| 7 | University of Kansas | 16,987 | 15 | $18,266,319 | $1,217,755 |
| 8 | Ohio State University | 41,666 | 13 | $18,250,063 | $1,403,851 |
| 9 | The University of Texas at Austin | 37,026 | 14 | $17,567,914 | $1,254,851 |
| 10 | Michigan State University | 35,280 | 18 | $17,548,611 | $974,923 |
| 11 | University of Michigan | 27,833 | 17 | $16,913,194 | $994,894 |
| 12 | University of Arkansas | 19,774 | 14 | $16,332,876 | $1,166,634 |
| 13 | The University of Alabama | 29,071 | 15 | $15,003,656 | $1,000,244 |
| 14 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | 20,818 | 17 | $14,611,434 | $859,496 |
| 15 | University of Florida | 30,583 | 14 | $14,200,425 | $1,014,316 |
| 16 | University of California-Los Angeles | 30,329 | 15 | $13,416,856 | $894,457 |
| 17 | Florida State University | 29,051 | 18 | $13,252,028 | $736,224 |
| 18 | University of Oklahoma | 18,218 | 16 | $13,190,742 | $824,421 |
| 19 | Texas Christian University | 8,591 | 16 | $12,889,761 | $805,610 |
| 20 | Xavier University | 4,292 | 17 | $12,707,109 | $747,477 |
| 21 | Gonzaga University | 5,029 | 17 | $12,131,756 | $713,633 |
| 22 | Villanova University | 6,469 | 15 | $11,120,378 | $741,359 |
| 23 | Clemson University | 17,849 | 15 | $11,103,355 | $740,224 |
| 24 | University of Miami | 10,102 | 13 | $10,868,814 | $836,063 |
| 25 | Purdue University | 29,301 | 14 | $10,171,629 | $726,545 |
| 26 | University of Missouri-Columbia | 24,060 | 15 | $10,065,698 | $671,047 |
| 27 | Auburn University | 20,260 | 21 | $9,900,612 | $471,458 |
| 28 | Virginia Tech | 25,175 | 16 | $9,428,524 | $589,283 |
| 29 | Kansas State University | 17,562 | 17 | $9,192,918 | $540,760 |
| 30 | Providence College | 3,768 | 14 | $9,081,267 | $648,662 |
| 31 | Texas A & M University-College Station | 44,975 | 16 | $8,905,402 | $556,588 |
| 32 | University of Virginia | 15,420 | 17 | $8,555,125 | $503,243 |
| 33 | Texas Tech University | 26,588 | 16 | $8,005,272 | $500,330 |
| 34 | Arizona State University-Tempe | 38,761 | 16 | $7,693,224 | $480,827 |
| 35 | Creighton University | 3,970 | 16 | $7,665,992 | $479,125 |
| 36 | Wichita State University | 8,566 | 17 | $7,426,190 | $436,835 |
| 37 | University of Cincinnati | 21,445 | 14 | $6,970,262 | $497,876 |
| 38 | West Virginia University | 20,524 | 15 | $6,846,053 | $456,404 |
| 39 | San Diego State University | 26,530 | 17 | $6,453,937 | $379,643 |
| 40 | Butler University | 4,171 | 14 | $6,198,953 | $442,782 |
| 41 | Seton Hall University | 5,484 | 15 | $6,011,447 | $400,763 |
| 42 | University of Nevada-Reno | 15,390 | 16 | $5,653,559 | $353,347 |
| 43 | University of Rhode Island | 12,422 | 15 | $4,832,740 | $322,183 |
| 44 | University of Houston | 25,399 | 13 | $4,750,737 | $365,441 |
| 45 | St Bonaventure University | 1,589 | 15 | $3,449,008 | $229,934 |
| 46 | Murray State University | 6,916 | 12 | $3,114,154 | $259,513 |
| 47 | Wright State University | 9,582 | 15 | $3,050,260 | $203,351 |
| 48 | Loyola University Chicago | 10,261 | 19 | $2,821,576 | $148,504 |
| 49 | Davidson College | 1,791 | 17 | $2,594,894 | $152,641 |
| 50 | Bucknell University | 3,525 | 13 | $2,544,585 | $195,737 |
| 51 | Iona College | 3,066 | 15 | $2,514,963 | $167,664 |
| 52 | Marshall University | 7,917 | 17 | $2,512,872 | $147,816 |
| 53 | College of Charleston | 9,470 | 15 | $2,422,777 | $161,518 |
| 54 | Georgia State University | 19,062 | 15 | $2,421,793 | $161,453 |
| 55 | New Mexico State University-Main Campus | 9,825 | 19 | $2,391,115 | $125,848 |
| 56 | Radford University | 8,091 | 17 | $2,325,900 | $136,818 |
| 57 | University at Buffalo | 18,732 | 15 | $2,214,350 | $147,623 |
| 58 | LIU Brooklyn | 3,749 | 15 | $1,950,050 | $130,003 |
| 59 | Stephen F Austin State University | 9,571 | 15 | $1,832,582 | $122,172 |
| 60 | University of Pennsylvania | 10,231 | 19 | $1,798,822 | $94,675 |
| 61 | California State University-Fullerton | 27,925 | 15 | $1,685,827 | $112,388 |
| 62 | South Dakota State University | 8,442 | 14 | $1,656,066 | $118,290 |
| 63 | The University of Montana | 7,789 | 16 | $1,645,038 | $102,815 |
| 64 | Lipscomb University | 2,651 | 15 | $1,625,556 | $108,370 |
| 65 | University of North Carolina at Greensboro | 13,904 | 18 | $1,567,728 | $87,096 |
| 66 | University of Maryland-Baltimore County | 9,474 | 13 | $1,548,500 | $119,115 |
| 67 | Texas Southern University | 5,776 | 17 | $1,429,460 | $84,086 |
| 68 | North Carolina Central University | 5,238 | 19 | $931,046 | $49,002 |
Source: U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education
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