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I don't have the link handy, but I think everyone saying the Cinderellas are what make March madness " special" are correct, however, the big name schools still drive the ratings and not the feel good stories. It is what it is.
Just for example. Say the tournament's value (using arbritrary and overly crude numbers) is cut in half:
1B / 300 teams = 3.33M per team
500M / 65 teams = 7.65M per team
Would it ruin the allure of the tournament. Yes.
Would it long term be a poor decision? Probably.
In the short term does it make the Resource 5 richer? Yes.
NCAA tourney money is not distributed equally to each team, rather conferences earn credits based on games played in the tourney.
From http://www.businessinsider.com/conference-payouts-ncaa-tournament-2011-4, the major conferences have typically received 63% of the payout.
That's probably a good representation of what the P5 would get going forward. So if separating cut revenue in half, they'd lose money.