coach cal
Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari talks to a player on the floor during a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at T-Mobile Arena, Dec 17, 2016, in Las Vegas. Calipari's salary dwarfs those of the other coaches of March Madness teams playing in the Sweet 16 of the 2017 NCAA men's basketball tournament. Reuters

The annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's basketball tournament's Sweet 16 was scheduled to get underway Thursday night, and if history is any indication, millions of viewers will tune in to watch four competitive games between teams vying for college hoops supremacy. The time of the year that is more popularly known as March Madness, or simply "the tournament," generates nearly $1 billion in annual revenue, but the head coaches of each team also get paid quite the pretty penny in generous salaries.

Those base salaries don't include bonuses and other pay that very well could be dependent on how far their respective teams advance in the Big Dance. USA Today's comprehensive list of pay for each coach who took his team to the highest shows that the combination of other sources of pay and bonuses can exceed $1 million.

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Duke University's Mike "Coach K" Krzyzewski commands the heftiest salary out of any college basketball coach with an annual pay day of $7,299,666. However, his heralded team lost in a major upset to the University of South Carolina last weekend, making him ineligible to be included on the below roundup of salaries for people who coached their team into the Sweet 16 for the current college basketball season.

The salaries follow from lowest to highest, with the bonuses, if applicable, showing the maximum amount that can be earned during a season. There are other earning opportunities for head coaches, ranging from corporate sponsorships to speaking engagements, but those factors have not been taken into account for this list. The "other pay" sources were not specified.

Butler University Chris Holtmann: Unavailable

University of Wisconsin Greg Gard was earning a relatively meager annual salary of $638,500, with other pay set at $11,500 and a bonus of $400,000.

Xavier University (Cincinnati) Chris Mack: $1,186,661.

Gonzaga University Mark Few: $1,374,811

University of North Carolina Roy Williams: $1,998,169; –bonus $1,000,000

University of Oregon Dana Altman: $2 million; other pay $1,000; bonus $820,000

University of Florida Mike White: $2 million

Purdue University Matt Painter: $2,428,795

University of South Carolina Frank Martin: $2.45 million

Baylor University Scott Drew: 2,502,491; other pay $263

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University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Steve Alford: The fourth year head coach signed a seven-year, $18.2 million contract in 2013, averaging to $2.6 million annually, but it was unclear exactly how much he was earning for the current season.

University of Michigan John Beilein: $2,760,833; other pay $80,305; bonus $275,000

West Virginia University Bob Huggins: $3,325,000; other pay $15,000; bonus $690,000

University of Arizona Sean Miller: $4,535,664; other pay $410,000; bonus $1,260,000

Kansas University Bill Self: $4,748,776; other pay $195,000; bonus $525,000

University of Kentucky John Calipari: $6,580,000; other pay $295,376; bonus $50,000