Why Should Miner Fans Root For Memphis?
EL PASO, Tx – The NCAA basketball tournament can contribute half of the annual funding for Conference USA’s sport leagues.
For every game played in the tournament, each team earns a “unit” for its conference. Each unit can be worth up to $177,000.
For this reason, it is very important thateach conferenceget multiple teams into the tournament. YearlyNCAA payouts are based on units incurred in tournaments over a six year period.
Brian Wikstrom, Associate Athletic Director at UTEP, tells ABC-7, “We’re rooting for Memphis, because each game they win, ConferenceUSA gets a unit and we get a share of that.”
This year, the Atlantic Coast Conference,led the way with 7 bids.
Closer to home, the Western Athletic Conference, UTEP’sformer conference, received two bids, one more than Conference USA.
However, ConferenceUSA teams have compiled 44 units in the last six tournaments, which equals $7,800,000.
Over that same period, WAC teams earned just 17 units, which translate into $3,000,000.
If bothWAC champion Nevada and ConferenceUSA champion Memphis win their first round games tomorrow, they willmeet Sunday in the second round of the South Regional.
