"The N.C.A.A. distributes money to the 31 conferences with teams in the tournament in the form of units. The units are calculated by taking the total pool in the basketball fund $167.1 million this year and dividing by the number of teams in the tournament plus the number of games played (except for the championship game) during the past six years.
This year, there are 752 units worth $222,206 each. (The N.I.T. units are worth about $14,000.)
How much a conference earns yearly is based on how many of its teams qualified for the tournament and how many games they won over a rolling six-year period. This year, units earned in 2004 will be replaced by those from 2010, determining the distribution in 2011."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/sports/ncaabasketball/04ncaa.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/3b09b5004e0d54799ef1fe1ad6fc8b25/2010+Division+I+Basketball+Distribution.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=3b09b5004e0d54799ef1fe1ad6fc8b25" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Either way you'll see the WCC and the MWC aren't that far apart, especially when you compare the both of us to the ACC and the likes.
MWC individual team payout $399971
WCC individual team payout $395033
Total difference: $4938
Plus the added value of being on ESPN instead of the Mtn ("if a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound channel") and having more slots for OOC games PLUS ESPN's help in scheduling quality opponents. It's pretty much a no brainer that the WCC provides more than the MWC does. (unless you're in the camp that believes playing in "high school gyms" trumps, phenomenally enhanced national exposure) IMHO playing a substantial number of games for millions of fans on ESPN and BYUTV> playing in front of 15k fans on a 3rd tier network.
