Due to the implementation of the House settlement, schools found themselves bidding for players. It happened in the past, but now it’s out there in front of everyone and more schools are involved. And
contributing to the spending spike, many schools went big early (and some are reported to have offered multi-year deals) before the NCAA implemented their NIL oversight mechanism in July. Some think this past offseason was a spike that won’t be repeated, but others are not so sure.
Who are the biggest players?
It a recent article by the Lexington Herald Leader, they report that “The payroll number for the UK basketball team this season is around $22 million.”
“How does UK’s team payroll rank nationally? Those specific numbers are not public record, but the consensus in college basketball circles is that — while several other programs have gone beyond the $10 million threshold for their rosters this season — no team in the country will have a higher number than the Wildcats, and Mark Pope has not shied away from that distinction. “We have the best donors in college basketball. We have the best fans in college basketball,” Pope said in May. “This is the University of Kentucky — I never forget that — so we should be the best at everything. And put NIL and put the transfer portal on the list. Our job is to go be the best at everything.”“
Basket Under Review recently reported:
“Several other teams expected to be north of $10 million this year, according to Basket Under Review sources, include: BYU, St. John’s, Texas Tech, North Carolina, Florida, Illinois, Virginia, NC State, Cincinnati, Washington, Kansas State, Texas A&M, Louisville, UConn, Michigan and Kansas.“
2026 AP Poll
The first AP poll of the season includes almost all of those teams representing a little less than half of the top 25. Many of them are perennial preseason favorites anyway. You can be sure that not every school is as transparent with their spending as these. Looking at the three holes in the top 10, I’m inclined to think #1 Purdue and #2 Houston are probably generous spenders, but you can be sure that #6, Duke is in the club.
20 MILLION DOLLAR CLUB
#9 Kentucky
10 MILLION DOLLAR CLUB
- #3 Florida
- #4 UConn
- #5 St John’s
- #7 Michigan
- #8 BYU
- #10 Texas Tech
- #11 Louisville
- #17 Illinois
- #19 Kansas
- #25 UNC
- #26 NC State
- #31 Kansas St
- #35 Washington
- #41 Virginia
- KenPom #35 Texas A&M
- KenPom #36 Cincinnati
What Does It Mean?
Not a thing, yet. But it will be interesting to see if it has an impact on the tournament. Like Coach Wade says, (paraphrased), It’s all about the players. If you get quality players, and then give them quality coaching, you’re going to win a lot of games.
