'I'll Play In The Parking Lot, Just Clear The Fucking Check' - This New College Hoops Tournament With $2 Million In NIL Money To The Winner Has Coaches Begging For An Invite

A lot of moving parts here that Norlander lays out pretty good for us. We talked about this event before when it was first announced and now we're basically all finalized. Welcome to the new era folks. This is where we are heading and frankly, I don't mind it. This sort of event makes it interesting. It's not 'pay-for-play' but it gives you a reward for winning. That should always be the main driving point here. If you win, you get more, just like everything else in life. 

Here's how the money is laid out (h/t CBS): 

The tournament would be unique in that the NIL collective of each participating school would be paid $1 million. Additional significant NIL opportunities (believed to be in the neighborhood of another $1 million) would be awarded exclusively to the winner or winners of the event, depending on the final bracket format(s). The money would then be distributed to athletes by the collectives. The athletes, while in Las Vegas, would be required to participate in multiple off-the-court activities to earn that NIL money. 

Makes sense. You gotta do shit off the court to help get the NIL, whatever. It's all at least out in the open. If you play in this Tournament, you know that there's money at stake. Again, I love the idea that you have to, you know, win, to get more money. That's all we want to see. Guys compete, no one really gives a shit about if people make money. I don't know why it makes a difference if a college kid is making $0 from companies, money under the table or if it's just out in the open. 

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Now I need to know how did the teams get picked here. This is a huge advantage since it's a multi-year deal. It helps with recruiting, it's something you can pitch to guys and have at least an amount tied to. Every team should be beating on the door to ask to play. My only fear is it overshadows the greatest Thanksgiving week event we have in the sport. The Maui Invitational. That's the event that sums up college basketball the best. We've had iconic moments out there and I don't ever want to lose the Maui Invitational. 

There's already talk about expanding the event. Norlander talks about what it could look like: 

There have also been discussions about trying to make the proposed 16-team event in 2025 into something similar to FIFA's World Cup format, with group-stage play, but the viability of that model remains unclear. If the event comes to fruition as envisioned, it could spark the start of a landscape-changing trend in college basketball for the rest of this decade, if not beyond. 

Oh, so like the regular season? I mean, if this became a team's non-conference schedule you have my attention. Take away so many of those buy-games that are 30-point spreads and let's see some big boys play each other more. I know people hate seeing the dollar amount, but most of the NIL transfer stuff you see isn't the right number. This is also just where college sports are these days. You only have the NCAA to blame for refusing to adapt and being reactive to everything. I have no idea how this is going to work or last with this sort of money being handed out, but whatever. Just give us good games and we'll all watch.