The men’s NCAA Tournament Final Four is set. If you don’t enjoy upsets, this has been the tournament for you. All four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four, just the second time that’s ever happened. Only one double-digit seed made it to the Sweet Sixteen, and it was Arkansas, led by John Calipari. Not exactly a Cinderella underdog story.
As the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight unfolded, we saw a couple of close calls. No. 3 Texas Tech, fresh off of a wild comeback against Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen, saw a late nine-point lead vanish in the blink of an eye against Florida in the Elite Eight. Similarly, Houston was about to head to overtime against Purdue in the Sweet Sixteen if not for a very crafty inbounds play that won the game in the final second.
It’s a rare occurrence, but the four best teams all year long are actually the four best left standing. However, none of those teams’ coaches are even in the top five highest-paid basketball coaches in 2025, and only one is among the top ten.
Here are the coaches making the most money this season.
Bruce Pearl (L) and Tom Izzo before Auburn and Michigan State met in the Elite Eight. (Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Bill Self, Kansas Jayhawks — $8.8 million
Bill Self and the Jayhawks squared off against Calipari’s Razorbacks during the first round of the tournament. It was a fairly close game, though Arkansas ultimately pulled away to win 79-72. That meant the highest-paid coach in college basketball was knocked out on the very first day of the tournament. Self signed a lifetime contract with the Jayhawks in November 2023. It’ll pay him $53 million over the first five seasons and renews every five years. He should be in control at Kansas until he retires.
John Calipari, Arkansas Razorbacks — $8 million
John Calipari is the second-highest-paid coach in college basketball. After 15 seasons at Kentucky, the coach and university decided to part ways. Calipari quickly landed at a fellow SEC school in Arkansas and was mere seconds away from guiding the Razorbacks to the Elite Eight in his first season at the helm. They’ll settle for a Sweet Sixteen finish. Calipari’s deal is worth $7 million over five seasons; this year also included a $1 million signing bonus.
Dan Hurley, Connecticut Huskies — $7.78 million
When we last saw Dan Hurley, he was walking toward the locker room after a close loss against Florida, yelling at Baylor players and staff. The profanities weren’t directed at Baylor; he was criticizing the officials and expressing his hopes that the Bears — who were playing against Duke in the next game on the same court — weren’t similarly impacted (though he used more colorful language than we can print). Hurley won back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024, so a second-round exit is a down year. He signed a six-year, $50 million contract extension last year and will receive a retention bonus this year to reach nearly $7.8 million.
Tom Izzo, Michigan State Spartans — $6.2 million
Tom Izzo has been at Michigan State since 1995 and has had sustained success at the school. The Spartans won the National Championship in 2000 and finished as runner-up in 2009. They’ve also made the tournament in 27 consecutive seasons, which is the longest streak for a coach at a single school. Since Izzo took over, Michigan State has never finished the year with a losing record. This year, the Spartans finished 30-7 and reached the Elite Eight, their furthest appearance in the tournament since making the Final Four in 2019. Izzo last signed a five-year extension in August 2022; the school said the $6.2 million deal could make him a “Spartan for life.”
Mick Cronin, UCLA Bruins — $6.1 million
The Covid-19 pandemic happened during Mick Cronin’s first season at UCLA, so the NCAA didn’t host a tournament that year. The following season — Cronin’s first postseason appearance with the Bruins — the team went from the First Four to the Final Four. Cronin inked a six-year extension in 2022 worth about $4.1 million per season. He earned a $2 million retention bonus this season. After a losing record last year, the Bruins bounced back nicely with a 23-11 record and a second-round finish.
Bruce Pearl, Auburn Tigers — $5.96 million
Earning just shy of $6 million this year, Bruce Pearl is the highest-paid coach of any of the Final Four teams. Pearl was fired from Tennessee in 2011 after lying to the NCAA and received a three-year show-cause penalty. During that time off, Pearl joined H.T. Hackney, a Knoxville wholesale grocery distribution firm, as the company’s Vice President of Marketing. He headed to Auburn in 2014 and has turned the program into a perennial powerhouse. The Tigers have won at least 25 games in six of the past eight seasons, and 21 in another season. This year is the second time Pearl has guided the Tigers to a Final Four; he’s hoping this one doesn’t end in the heartbreak that 2019 did.
Rick Barnes, Tennessee Volunteers — $5.8 million
When Tennessee hired Rick Barnes in 2015, he was the third coach for the program in as many seasons. Barnes has brought sustained success to the Volunteers; the school has won at least 25 games six times since 2017-18 and has reached two Sweet Sixteens and back-to-back Elite Eights. Barnes agreed to a five-year, $29.4 million extension in 2023, and he also earned $1.6 million in bonuses from the team’s Elite Eight run.
Scott Drew, Baylor Bears — $5.4 million
In 2003, the Baylor basketball program was in shambles. One player had killed a teammate, and former head coach Dave Bliss had recently resigned. Scott Drew took over and helped turn the program into a consistent NCAA Tournament squad. The Bears won the championship in 2021, beating then-undefeated Gonzaga. Since that championship, Baylor has bowed out in four straight second rounds. Baylor is a private university, so Drew’s salary is an estimate after signing a five-year extension last season.
Tommy Lloyd, Arizona Wildcats — $5.25 million
From 2001 to 2021, Tommy Lloyd served as an assistant under Mark Few at Gonzaga. It turns out being around a winning program all the time as an assistant is a good thing when you become a head coach. Lloyd has quickly impressed at Arizona. His Wildcats are 112-33 (a .772 winning percentage) since his arrival in 2021 and have finished in the Sweet Sixteen three times. He signed an extension in 2024. It will escalate and eventually reach $6 million by the final season.
Nate Oats, Alabama Crimson Tide/Mark Pope, Kentucky Wildcats/Chris Beard, Mississippi Rebels — $5 million
A trio of SEC coaches round out the list, each making $5 million. Nate Oats has evolved Alabama into a basketball school. He led the Crimson Tide to a Final Four last year and an Elite Eight this year. This year’s run included a whopping 113 points on an NCAA-record 25 made three-pointers during Alabama’s Sweet Sixteen game. Chris Beard’s Ole Miss Rebels reached the Sweet Sixteen a season after missing the tournament entirely. Mark Pope joined Kentucky before this season, leaving BYU to take the Wildcats gig. Pope led the Wildcats to a No. 3 seed and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. Expect long-term success at all three of these programs.
Read more: The Highest-Paid NCAA Basketball Coaches, 2025 Edition
