UMBC's miracle win brought nearly $100M in free publicity, analysts say

How much is one win worth? To a small, relatively unknown school like University of Maryland, Baltimore County, its inspired upset over top-seeded Virginia in the first round of March Madness is proving to be outrageously valuable.

The media frenzy surrounding UMBC's Cinderella story generated the equivalent of nearly $100 million in advertising exposure for the school through social media in the 24 hours following the victory, industry analysts told Yahoo Sports' Jeff Eisenberg.

Prior to Saturday's game, media evaluation firm Joyce Julius and Associates estimated UMBC had produced $21.3 million in free publicity over the previous 12 months; after the game, media intelligence company Meltwater estimated that figure had jumped dramatically - to nearly $119 million.

"Given that it’s the first time that a 16 seed has toppled a 1, I would expect this story to have a longer tail than your 'usual' upset, irrespective of their performance in the remainder of the tournament," said Johnny Vance, Meltwater's director of strategic programming. "I think it’s fair to say that this will continue to generate more good publicity for the school and overall March numbers will leave all other upsets in the dust in terms of exposure for the school."

While UMBC's newfound place in the public consciousness is assured, the school's marketing department would undoubtedly love to see the team keep its win streak alive. The Retrievers are set to take on ninth-seeded Kansas State in the Round of 32 on Sunday, with tipoff slated for 7:45 p.m. ET.