ACC Set to Make Combined $100 Million from Last 3 NCAA Tournaments

The Atlantic Coast Conference is set to receive more than $100 million in performance-based incentives due to its teams' results in the last three NCAA basketball tournaments.

Darren Rovell of ESPN reported Friday the ACC has earned $30.6 million for the 2017 edition of March Madness, led by North Carolina advancing to the Final Four. The conference's overall total is the highest in the country, well ahead of the Big Ten's estimated $75 million haul.

The bonus money comes from the NCAA tournament's television deal, which was extended in 2016 by the governing body of collegiate sports, CBS and Turner Sports. Erik Brady of USA Today reported the extension through 2032 was worth $8.8 billion.

Rovell noted conferences are rewarded with one "unit" for each game one of its teams plays during the big dance, excluding the national title game. Along with North Carolina this year, the ACC had UNC and Syracuse reach the Final Four in 2016 and Duke, which won the title, advance that far in 2015.

The money isn't paid out in a single lump sum, however, but rather through a series of installments over the next six years, according to the ESPN report. Most conferences divide the income equally among its member schools, regardless of individual tournament performance.

Figures from NCAA tournament results will simply add to the massive revenue generated by the power-five athletic conferences.

Ted Tatos‏ of Empirical Analytics highlighted the staggering income of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC since the 2003-04 school year:

The SEC's overall lead is powered by its dominance in college football, but the Cinderella run by South Carolina gives the conference a representative in this year's Final Four.