The two biggest monetary upsets of March Madness were won by the school that least fits the profile of a financial underdog.
Of the 52 games played so far in the NCAA tournament, Princeton’s surprise wins over Arizona and Missouri represented the biggest imbalance between what the losing and winning teams spend on men’s basketball. Princeton spent $1.7 million on its program last year—more than seven times less than Arizona what Arizona spent ($12.2 million) and six times less than Missouri ($10.3 million).
Other notable financial upsets include No. 16 FDU topping No. 1 Purdue (a 5.2x spending gap) on Friday, and, surprisingly, No. 9 FAU’s narrow first-round victory over No. 8 Memphis (5.1x). Those numbers are according to data schools submit each year to the U.S. Department of Education.
There’s a way to view those Princeton wins as a significant financial boon. For starters, Ivy League schools don’t spend nearly as much on basketball as programs in other comparable conferences. The eight Ivy League schools spent an average of $1.5 million on men’s basketball last year- half as much as those in the Missouri Valley Conference ($3 million). Secondly, the eight-team Ivy League has historically avoided many of the money-making endeavors of their rivals, such as ubiquitous commercial partnerships and a large year-end tournament. The seven other Ivy League ADs are likely all thrilled about the Tigers’ run so far.
Of course, Princeton and its league peers are also among the wealthiest schools in the country. Princeton’s endowment was $35.8 billion at the end of the last fiscal year—that’s 14x the combined endowments of Arizona ($1.2 billion) and Missouri ($1.3 billion), according to data in Sportico’s college finance database.
Cinderella runs also often have a dramatic impact on those schools (see: George Mason, Butler). But Princeton will benefit little from additional name recognition, and the school isn’t really hurting for additional applications. The total cost of attendance at Princeton last year was $79,540, making it one of the more expensive universities in the country.
Neither of Princeton’s wins this past weekend come close to the biggest financial upsets in NCAA tournament history. Last year, Saint Peter’s beat a Kentucky team that spent 9.7x more on its men’s basketball program. That ranks as the fourth biggest financial upset in at least 16 years, according to a Sportico data analysis. There have been three others where the losing team spent more than 10x the winner.
As is customary, the later stages of the 2023 men’s bracket feature a lot less imbalance than the opening weekend. But as long as Princeton and FAU stick around, there’s potential for a few more major financial upsets.
March 19: Princeton’s Ivy Peers Score NCAA’s Most Valuable Wins
March 18: CBI Leader Hails Pay-For-Play For Athletes
March 17: Iowa Star Caitlin Clark By The Numbers
March 16: No. 1 Seeds Look to Continue Recent Dominance
March 15: FDU Is Already a Cinderella Off the Court
March 14: Can the NCAA Diversify Beyond its Cash Cow?