Illini Final Four trip benefits University of Illinois

(The Center Square) – A University of Illinois professor says the economic benefit of the school’s mens basketball team reaching the NCAA Final Four will easily outweigh the potential costs. The Fighting Illini are scheduled to play Connecticut in Indianapolis on Saturday. Jason Satchell, teaching assistant professor of finance at U of I, said the Final Four appearance would bring the school millions of dollars worth of exposure, plus participation funds from the NCAA. “There's been a positive correlation here in the last decade or so where schools that have excelled athletically have seen better enrollment, improved enrollment in terms of selectivity,” Satchell told The Center Square. Satchell said the university would likely give coach Brad Underwood a contract extension with higher pay. “From a statistical standpoint, looking back at all these schools, the benefit when it comes to enrollment, it outstrip