Nobody likes seeing how the sausage gets made.
For the Missouri Valley Conference, the sausage comes in the form of NCAA tournament units.
Each game a Valley team plays in the NCAA tournament earns a unit, and for the men’s tournament, each unit is worth roughly $2 million. For the women’s tournament, the number is closer to $115,000. Getting more teams - or the best teams - in the Big Dance means the opportunity for multiple units.
With that reality in mind, Missouri Valley Conference commissioner Jeff Jackson announced on Monday morning a series of changes to Arch Madness that have drawn sharp reactions throughout the league’s fanbase.