NCAA Connection

Without College Basketball the NCAA wouldn't be as popular or as wealthy.  March Madness alone makes the NCAA over one billion dollars and that money covers expenses for all of other non-popular and sports that aren't televised.  NCAA basketball is one of the top watched sports and easily gets the most money, even women's basketball.  In 1995, when the UConn's women's team won the first of its nine national championships, that all changed.  Those championships have not only boosted Huskies pride, they've helped to draw billions of dollars in public funds and alumni donations to upgrade UConn's academic image and the school's facilities. Indeed, there are multiple examples of colleges previously unknown for their basketball programs that have prospered financially after making a deep run into the March Madness that surrounds the NCAA basketball tournament.  The same day the triumphant '95 Lady Huskies visited the state legislature, Connecticut lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to pump $1 billion into "UConn 2000," a campus-improvement project that has since followed the initial billion with another $1.3 billion.  The NCAA also thrives off college basketball by the Cinderella teams making long runs in the tournament and making money off of their gear.  Universities like Butler in Indiana, Florida Gulf Coast and Gonzaga in Washington state, all saw a rise in student application numbers following previous tournament runs.  After Butler reached the national championship game in 2010, its student applications rose about 40 percent, according to a university spokesman. Applications at Florida Gulf Coast increased by nearly 40 percent after that school reached the Sweet 16 in 2013, and applications at Gonzaga rose nearly 12 percent from fall of 1998 to fall of 1999 after the team reached the Elite Eight.  The NCAA makes almost all of its money and popularity off college basketball.  They make money off TV ads, selling gear, and ticket sales.  The NCAA thrives off of college basketball.