Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points..

I have some exciting news! To kick off the Men’s NCAA Tournament, we’re hosting another bracket challenge, thanks to our pals at Short Courts.


Short Courts makes beautiful and authentic framed replica courts and football fields, perfect for your donors, fans and fundraisers. Designed to celebrate your program and thank the people who make it possible, Short Courts are hand crafted and customizable for any occasion. Check out examples courts and fields here.

Here are the details:

  • The Bracket Challenge is open to ALL Extra Points readers, not just premium subscribers. If we’ve got your email, you’re welcome to enter the challenge.

  • Simply fill out your bracket here. Limit one per person.

  • The winner of the bracket challenge will get their very own Short Court of the team of their choice, along with some additional Extra Points prizes. The second and third place winners will also get free Extra Points Premium subscriptions. Winners will be notified shortly after the championship game.

  • No purchase necessary, no cash collected. We’re not out here trying to get anybody in trouble with the NCAA.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing all you completely demolish me in this challenge. Am I going to do a terrible job because I’m bad at picking college basketball winners, or because I’m going to be sentimental and put Ohio State in the Final Four? Well, who can say.

You don’t need to follow college basketball on a regular basis to participate in a bracket challenge, or even to appreciate the tournament at all. It’s accessible and easy to appreciate, no matter how casual your fandom.

To commemorate March Madness, we’ll shift to basketball programs for our next chapter of our FY25 sport-specific budget breakdowns. Earlier this month, we published the operating budgets for Women’s Soccer and Baseball. We’ll get to women’s basketball numbers later this week, but today, I’m happy to share the data we have for men’s basketball.

First, some notes on the methodology

Every D-1 and D-II school files an itemized athletic department budget report with the NCAA, called the MFRS report. This report breaks down how athletic departments generate and spend money, itemized by sport. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s the closest thing we have in college sports to a unified data set.

We obtain these documents by filling hundreds of Open Records Requests. Because of those requests, and because of our data analysis, we’re able to compare spending across more than 200 schools. You can pull your own reports, just like this, for every single NCAA sport, via the Extra Points Library ($).

The data you’ll see referenced here, and in all future newsletters in this series, comes from the Total Operational Expenses line item from that report. That number includes all the money a school spends on coaching salaries, administrative salaries, scholarships, travel, software, recruiting, and all sorts of other operational expenses. It does not include athlete revenue share payments. The numbers we are talking about here are not the “salary cap” for each team.

I’d love to publish that information! But almost every school refuses to share it, even at an anonymized level. So this is the next best thing I can get.

This data also comes from FY25, or July 1 2024-June 30 2025. That means this data is not from this basketball season. It is from last basketball season, when Florida won the national title.

And finally, we can only obtain data from schools that respond to open records requests. Private schools, like Furman, Penn, BYU, etc do not have to respond to FOIAs, and thus do not publish their MFRS reports. A few public schools, like Pitt, Temple, UCF, Delaware and Delaware State, are exempt from state open records laws. A handful of other schools have not yet responded to our repeated requests, either because they limit FOIAs to in-state residents (so we have to pay a stand-in), or because they’re simply very slow at responding to requests.

We are currently missing data from Air Force, Alabama State, Alabama A&M, Alcorn State, Army, Coppin State, ETSU, Georgia Tech, Florida, FIU, Jackson State, Morehead State, Morgan State, North Alabama, Texas Southern, Troy, South Alabama, South Carolina Upstate, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Greensboro, UC-Santa Barbara, UL-Monroe, UMBC, UT-Chattanooga, Tennessee State, and UT-Martin. If you happen to have the FY25 MFRS report for any of these schools, I’ll happily give you free premium Extra Points in exchange (and/or give you any of ours).

Got all of that? Great.

Here are the top Men’s Basketball operating budgets from FY25:

School

FY25 Total Expenses

Indiana University, Bloomington

$32,041,364

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

$23,183,445

University of Arizona

$22,608,493

University of Texas at Austin

$22,403,330

University of Connecticut

$21,554,604

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

$21,254,027

Michigan State University

$21,009,976

University of Kentucky

$20,787,671

Auburn University

$20,535,097

University of Louisville

$19,884,419

University of Kansas

$19,732,079

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

$18,619,676

University of Mississippi

$18,228,378

University of California, Los Angeles

$17,799,741

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

$16,813,590

University of Virginia

$16,684,746

Texas Tech University

$16,600,424

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick

$16,096,898

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

$15,668,467

University of Alabama

$15,230,392

Florida State University

$15,064,639

Pennsylvania State University

$15,001,847

University of Houston

$14,626,221

The Ohio State University

$14,588,893

University of Michigan

$14,358,515

University of Missouri, Columbia

$14,354,000

Texas A&M University, College Station

$14,318,327

University of California, Berkeley

$14,101,936

University of Oregon

$14,072,869

Purdue University

$14,040,438

University of Oklahoma

$13,662,135

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

$13,427,513

University of Iowa

$13,292,249

University of Maryland, College Park

$12,972,857

North Carolina State University

$12,873,636

Clemson University

$12,799,513

University of Washington

$12,761,916

University of Wisconsin-Madison

$12,431,427

Mississippi State University

$12,220,602

University of Cincinnati

$11,883,407

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

$11,541,638

Kansas State University

$11,464,762

University of Utah

$11,191,830

Louisiana State University

$11,104,405

University of South Carolina, Columbia

$11,074,153

University of Memphis

$10,776,074

West Virginia University

$10,766,985

Iowa State University

$10,578,135

University of Georgia

$10,400,030

Arizona State University

$10,185,948

Oklahoma State University

$9,530,565

San Diego State University

$9,110,688

University of Colorado, Boulder

$8,608,359

University of South Florida

$8,567,401

University of Rhode Island

$7,857,207

Virginia Commonwealth University

$7,818,055

Colorado State University

$7,378,177

George Mason University

$7,008,096

Oregon State University

$6,899,223

Wichita State University

$6,755,672

Utah State University

$6,611,877

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

$6,314,236

University of New Mexico

$5,890,643

University of Nevada, Reno

$5,620,042

Boise State University

$5,437,774

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

$5,338,081

College of Charleston

$5,199,977

University of North Texas

$5,041,794

University of Alabama at Birmingham

$5,003,622

Arkansas State University

$4,987,017

Florida Atlantic University

$4,931,154

East Carolina University

$4,856,009

University of Texas at El Paso

$4,671,235

University at Buffalo, the State University of New York

$4,538,362

California State University, Fresno

$4,478,222

James Madison University

$4,408,806

Washington State University

$4,381,802

University of Wyoming

$4,349,840

University of California, Irvine

$4,317,610

Old Dominion University

$4,218,097

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

$4,118,482

University of Akron

$4,065,757

Ohio University

$4,057,526

University of Illinois Chicago

$4,014,892

University of California, San Diego

$3,950,375

Missouri State University

$3,840,536

University of North Carolina Wilmington

$3,810,823

Stony Brook University

$3,701,707

University of Northern Iowa

$3,697,295

Texas State University

$3,635,002

San Jose State University

$3,602,132

University of California, Riverside

$3,595,223

Marshall University

$3,593,971

New Mexico State University

$3,557,248

Northern Illinois University

$3,501,500

University of Montana

$3,497,311

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

$3,407,642

Coastal Carolina University

$3,353,160

Austin Peay State University

$3,348,218

Longwood University

$3,313,839

University of Hawaii, Manoa

$3,221,099

McNeese State University

$3,169,273

University of Toledo

$3,167,166

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

$3,134,094

California State University, Northridge

$3,132,883

Illinois State University

$3,104,721

Cleveland State University

$2,998,273

Western Kentucky University

$2,977,912

Norfolk State University

$2,929,667

Indiana State University

$2,929,494

University of Texas at San Antonio

$2,916,916

William & Mary

$2,902,405

Miami University (Ohio)

$2,901,957

Northern Kentucky University

$2,900,547

University of Vermont

$2,887,312

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

$2,878,950

Georgia State University

$2,870,472

Oakland University

$2,855,987

Kent State University

$2,843,843

Bowling Green State University

$2,838,564

Murray State University

$2,785,562

University of California, Davis

$2,779,116

Montana State University-Bozeman

$2,778,265

Appalachian State University

$2,759,201

Stephen F. Austin State University

$2,713,124

University at Albany

$2,703,960

Binghamton University

$2,695,910

South Dakota State University

$2,671,483

University of Texas at Arlington

$2,668,943

Tarleton State University

$2,658,014

Purdue University Fort Wayne

$2,646,777

Towson University

$2,611,883

IU Indy

$2,606,362

Kennesaw State University

$2,605,729

University of Missouri-Kansas City

$2,590,773

Wright State University

$2,583,304

New Jersey Institute of Technology

$2,583,100

Winthrop University

$2,578,551

Ball State University

$2,572,793

Louisiana Tech University

$2,572,343

Central Michigan University

$2,549,635

Long Beach State University

$2,541,381

California Polytechnic State University

$2,537,259

University of Nebraska Omaha

$2,533,466

Florida Gulf Coast University

$2,519,071

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

$2,461,416

The University of Southern Mississippi

$2,449,733

Eastern Michigan University

$2,410,498

University of North Dakota

$2,405,937

Western Michigan University

$2,398,421

Eastern Kentucky University

$2,344,183

University of Massachusetts Lowell

$2,343,039

Youngstown State University

$2,285,494

California State University, Bakersfield

$2,268,331

California State University, Sacramento

$2,265,831

Eastern Washington University

$2,247,764

California State University, Fullerton

$2,246,801

Virginia Military Institute

$2,230,140

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

$2,226,185

Radford University

$2,225,866

Weber State University

$2,223,735

Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi

$2,195,185

Portland State University

$2,172,798

University of Northern Colorado

$2,133,487

Sam Houston State University

$2,127,420

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

$2,102,481

North Carolina A&T State University

$2,093,189

University of South Dakota

$2,083,139

U.S. Naval Academy

$2,024,292

University of North Florida

$2,011,131

University of Maine

$2,000,454

North Dakota State University

$1,971,005

Georgia Southern University

$1,961,184

The Citadel

$1,941,284

Lamar University

$1,916,716

Utah Valley University

$1,914,532

Utah Tech University

$1,909,141

University of Southern Indiana

$1,836,934

Tennessee Technological University

$1,828,386

Southern Utah University

$1,812,228

University of Idaho

$1,791,364

Eastern Illinois University

$1,732,886

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

$1,698,060

North Carolina Central University

$1,691,712

Southeast Missouri State University

$1,654,926

Northern Arizona University

$1,624,792

University of Central Arkansas

$1,621,424

University of New Hampshire

$1,602,559

East Texas A&M University

$1,577,788

Prairie View A&M University

$1,560,852

Western Carolina University

$1,560,366

Grambling State University

$1,482,688

Western Illinois University

$1,375,745

Chicago State University

$1,369,898

Southern University, Baton Rouge

$1,301,728

University of West Georgia

$1,289,733

Northwestern State University

$1,283,173

Florida A&M University

$1,277,300

Central Connecticut State University

$1,256,115

University of Maryland Eastern Shore

$1,250,391

University of New Orleans

$1,214,561

Idaho State University

$1,214,264

Nicholls State University

$1,186,820

Southeastern Louisiana University

$1,181,320

Mississippi Valley State University

$717,025

Wait, Indiana? How they hell did Indiana spend so much money, only to stink?

Last year, Indiana went 19-13, missing the NCAA Tournament entirely. How on earth did they manage to spend so much money on medioricty, even before we get to a single dollar that directly went to athletes?

Part the reason Indiana’s number is so high is because the program reported spending $7,767,591 on severance payments, presumably related to former head coach Mike Woodson’s termination. That number was nearly three times more than the second highest severance payment (Louisville) in FY25. Throw in team travel and administrative expernses that were both in the top ten in the country, and there you go. Huge budget number.

But this got me thinking….clearly Indiana spent a lot to get…not very much. What programs were the most efficient in spending per win?

With the obvious caveat that this does not include roster payment figures, because schools haev decided not release that information, here’s what we can learn from FY25’s data:

School

Record

Total Expenses

Cost per Win

Central Connecticut State University

23-7

$1,256,115

$54,614

Nicholls State University

17-13

$1,186,820

$69,813

Southeastern Louisiana University

16-14

$1,181,320

$73,833

Southern University, Baton Rouge

17-12

$1,301,728

$76,572

Utah Valley University

23-9

$1,914,532

$83,241

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

19-12

$1,698,060

$89,372

Northwestern State University

14-16

$1,283,173

$91,655

Southeast Missouri State University

18-12

$1,654,926

$91,940

University of Northern Colorado

22-10

$2,133,487

$96,977

Idaho State University

12-15

$1,214,264

$101,189

Florida A&M University

12-17

$1,277,300

$106,442

North Dakota State University

18-11

$1,971,005

$109,500

University of Maine

18-14

$2,000,454

$111,136

Lamar University

17-13

$1,916,716

$112,748

Northern Arizona University

14-16

$1,624,792

$116,057

Youngstown State University

19-13

$2,285,494

$120,289

McNeese State University

26-7

$3,169,273

$121,895

Georgia Southern University

16-16

$1,961,184

$122,574

Radford University

18-13

$2,225,866

$123,659

Towson University

21-11

$2,611,883

$124,375

Miami University (Ohio)

23-9

$2,901,957

$126,172

University of Nebraska Omaha

20-13

$2,533,466

$126,673

Winthrop University

20-11

$2,578,551

$128,928

Kent State University

22-12

$2,843,843

$129,266

University of South Dakota

16-14

$2,083,139

$130,196

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

17-14

$2,226,185

$130,952

Portland State University

16-13

$2,172,798

$135,800

University of California, Irvine

31-7

$4,317,610

$139,278

Norfolk State University

21-11

$2,929,667

$139,508

Florida Gulf Coast University

18-15

$2,519,071

$139,948

Tennessee Technological University

13-17

$1,828,386

$140,645

University of California, San Diego

28-5

$3,950,375

$141,085

U.S. Naval Academy

14-19

$2,024,292

$144,592

Eastern Kentucky University

16-14

$2,344,183

$146,511

Illinois State University

21-14

$3,104,721

$147,844

University of Idaho

12-19

$1,791,364

$149,280

Cleveland State University

20-13

$2,998,273

$149,914

Louisiana Tech University

17-12

$2,572,343

$151,314

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

19-11

$2,878,950

$151,524

University of Vermont

19-12

$2,887,312

$151,964

University of North Carolina Wilmington

25-8

$3,810,823

$152,433

Western Illinois University

9-19

$1,375,745

$152,861

University of North Florida

13-17

$2,011,131

$154,702

Purdue University Fort Wayne

17-13

$2,646,777

$155,693

University of Akron

26-7

$4,065,757

$156,375

California State University, Northridge

20-11

$3,132,883

$156,644

South Dakota State University

17-12

$2,671,483

$157,146

University of Montana

22-10

$3,497,311

$158,969

Eastern Michigan University

15-16

$2,410,498

$160,700

Kennesaw State University

16-14

$2,605,729

$162,858

Grambling State University

9-22

$1,482,688

$164,743

University of Massachusetts Lowell

14-15

$2,343,039

$167,360

California Polytechnic State University

15-19

$2,537,259

$169,151

North Carolina Central University

10-19

$1,691,712

$169,171

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

12-15

$2,102,481

$175,207

University at Albany

15-16

$2,703,960

$180,264

Appalachian State University

15-14

$2,759,201

$183,947

Murray State University

15-17

$2,785,562

$185,704

University of Toledo

17-15

$3,167,166

$186,304

California State University, Bakersfield

12-19

$2,268,331

$189,028

University of California, Riverside

19-13

$3,595,223

$189,222

Oakland University

15-18

$2,855,987

$190,399

Eastern Illinois University

9-19

$1,732,886

$192,543

Northern Kentucky University

15-16

$2,900,547

$193,370

William & Mary

15-15

$2,902,405

$193,494

University of Northern Iowa

19-13

$3,697,295

$194,594

Western Kentucky University

15-15

$2,977,912

$198,527

Wright State University

13-18

$2,583,304

$198,716

Marshall University

18-13

$3,593,971

$199,665

Southern Utah University

9-19

$1,812,228

$201,359

University of North Texas

25-9

$5,041,794

$201,672

Virginia Military Institute

11-19

$2,230,140

$202,740

Arkansas State University

24-11

$4,987,017

$207,792

Sam Houston State University

10-19

$2,127,420

$212,742

University of California, Davis

13-17

$2,779,116

$213,778

Boise State University

25-11

$5,437,774

$217,511

University of Alabama at Birmingham

23-13

$5,003,622

$217,549

Western Michigan University

11-20

$2,398,421

$218,038

Georgia State University

13-19

$2,870,472

$220,806

Longwood University

15-14

$3,313,839

$220,923

Binghamton University

12-17

$2,695,910

$224,659

College of Charleston

23-9

$5,199,977

$226,086

University of New Mexico

26-8

$5,890,643

$226,563

University of Southern Indiana

8-20

$1,836,934

$229,617

Washington State University

19-15

$4,381,802

$230,621

University of Central Arkansas

7-24

$1,621,424

$231,632

Ball State University

11-17

$2,572,793

$233,890

Bowling Green State University

12-18

$2,838,564

$236,547

University of Texas at Arlington

11-18

$2,668,943

$242,631

Indiana State University

12-18

$2,929,494

$244,125

James Madison University

18-12

$4,408,806

$244,934

Stephen F. Austin State University

11-17

$2,713,124

$246,648

Weber State University

9-22

$2,223,735

$247,082

University of Hawaii, Manoa

13-16

$3,221,099

$247,777

New Mexico State University

14-15

$3,557,248

$254,089

Central Michigan University

10-17

$2,549,635

$254,964

University of West Georgia

5-25

$1,289,733

$257,947

Texas State University

14-16

$3,635,002

$259,643

Utah State University

25-8

$6,611,877

$264,475

University of New Hampshire

6-24

$1,602,559

$267,093

University of North Dakota

9-21

$2,405,937

$267,326

University of Illinois Chicago

15-14

$4,014,892

$267,659

George Mason University

26-9

$7,008,096

$269,542

Ohio University

15-16

$4,057,526

$270,502

San Jose State University

13-20

$3,602,132

$277,087

Austin Peay State University

12-19

$3,348,218

$279,018

Eastern Washington University

8-22

$2,247,764

$280,971

Colorado State University

26-10

$7,378,177

$283,776

East Carolina University

17-14

$4,856,009

$285,648

University of Missouri-Kansas City

9-20

$2,590,773

$287,864

Virginia Commonwealth University

27-7

$7,818,055

$289,558

Florida Atlantic University

17-16

$4,931,154

$290,068

Tarleton State University

9-20

$2,658,014

$295,335

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

18-15

$5,338,081

$296,560

University of New Orleans

4-27

$1,214,561

$303,640

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

11-21

$3,407,642

$309,786

University of Texas at El Paso

15-15

$4,671,235

$311,416

Western Carolina University

5-22

$1,560,366

$312,073

East Texas A&M University

5-26

$1,577,788

$315,558

Old Dominion University

13-20

$4,218,097

$324,469

University of Nevada, Reno

17-16

$5,620,042

$330,591

Chicago State University

4-28

$1,369,898

$342,475

North Carolina A&T State University

6-25

$2,093,189

$348,865

Oregon State University

19-13

$6,899,223

$363,117

University of Memphis

29-6

$10,776,074

$371,589

IU Indy

7-22

$2,606,362

$372,337

Wichita State University

18-15

$6,755,672

$375,315

Utah Tech University

5-26

$1,909,141

$381,828

Prairie View A&M University

4-27

$1,560,852

$390,213

University of Wyoming

11-20

$4,349,840

$395,440

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

10-22

$4,118,482

$411,848

University of Houston

35-5

$14,626,221

$417,892

Coastal Carolina University

8-22

$3,353,160

$419,145

Iowa State University

25-10

$10,578,135

$423,125

San Diego State University

20-10

$9,110,688

$455,534

University of Wisconsin-Madison

27-10

$12,431,427

$460,423

University of Rhode Island

17-13

$7,857,207

$462,189

Clemson University

27-7

$12,799,513

$474,056

University of Maryland, College Park

27-9

$12,972,857

$480,476

New Jersey Institute of Technology

5-25

$2,583,100

$516,620

University of Georgia

20-13

$10,400,030

$520,002

Stony Brook University

7-24

$3,701,707

$528,815

University of Michigan

27-10

$14,358,515

$531,797

Missouri State University

7-23

$3,840,536

$548,648

Oklahoma State University

17-18

$9,530,565

$560,621

California State University, Fullerton

4-26

$2,246,801

$561,700

University of Oregon

25-10

$14,072,869

$562,915

California State University, Sacramento

4-25

$2,265,831

$566,458

West Virginia University

19-13

$10,766,985

$566,683

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

11-20

$6,314,236

$574,021

Mississippi State University

21-13

$12,220,602

$581,933

Purdue University

24-12

$14,040,438

$585,018

Texas Tech University

28-9

$16,600,424

$592,872

University of Colorado, Boulder

14-21

$8,608,359

$614,883

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

4-27

$2,461,416

$615,354

Texas A&M University, College Station

23-11

$14,318,327

$622,536

University of Maryland Eastern Shore

2-25

$1,250,391

$625,196

University of Cincinnati

19-16

$11,883,407

$625,442

Auburn University

32-6

$20,535,097

$641,722

University of Missouri, Columbia

22-12

$14,354,000

$652,455

University of Oklahoma

20-14

$13,662,135

$683,107

University of Utah

16-17

$11,191,830

$699,489

Michigan State University

30-7

$21,009,976

$700,333

University of South Florida

12-19

$8,567,401

$713,950

Kansas State University

16-17

$11,464,762

$716,548

Mississippi Valley State University

1-28

$717,025

$717,025

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

23-14

$16,813,590

$731,026

University of Louisville

27-8

$19,884,419

$736,460

California State University, Fresno

6-26

$4,478,222

$746,370

University of Mississippi

24-12

$18,228,378

$759,516

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

30-8

$23,183,445

$772,782

University of California, Los Angeles

23-11

$17,799,741

$773,902

University of Iowa

17-16

$13,292,249

$781,897

Arizona State University

13-20

$10,185,948

$783,534

Louisiana State University

14-18

$11,104,405

$793,172

The Ohio State University

17-15

$14,588,893

$858,170

University of Kentucky

24-12

$20,787,671

$866,153

Florida State University

17-15

$15,064,639

$886,155

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

13-19

$11,541,638

$887,818

University of Connecticut

24-11

$21,554,604

$898,109

University of South Carolina, Columbia

12-20

$11,074,153

$922,846

Pennsylvania State University

16-15

$15,001,847

$937,615

University of Kansas

21-13

$19,732,079

$939,623

University of Arizona

24-13

$22,608,493

$942,021

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

22-14

$21,254,027

$966,092

University of California, Berkeley

14-19

$14,101,936

$1,007,281

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

15-17

$15,668,467

$1,044,564

University of Washington

12-18

$12,761,916

$1,063,493

North Carolina State University

12-19

$12,873,636

$1,072,803

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick

15-17

$16,096,898

$1,073,127

University of Virginia

15-17

$16,684,746

$1,112,316

Northern Illinois University

3-25

$3,501,500

$1,167,167

University of Texas at Austin

19-16

$22,403,330

$1,179,123

Indiana University, Bloomington

19-13

$32,041,364

$1,686,388

The Citadel

1-25

$1,941,284

$1,941,284f

Did any of this surprise you? Where should we go next with our budget analysis? Let us know in the comments.

Reply

Avatar

or to participate