Utah Valley University’s March Madness dreams have been restored.

It just took $1 million to do it.

On Tuesday, the Western Athletic Conference threatened to keep first-place UVU out of its postseason tournament over an ongoing legal dispute between the Orem school and the WAC.

The WAC says Utah Valley owes $1 million in exit fees because the school is moving to a new conference next year. And this week, the WAC said the school had failed to comply with the judge’s order to put the money in escrow.

“The Conference will release new brackets,” the WAC said in its initial statement, “if the university does not comply with the court’s directive with the order by 5 p.m. MT on Tuesday, March 10.”

In a response to the WAC’s statement, a Utah Valley spokesperson said, “Since the Fourth District Court granted Utah Valley University’s motion for injunctive relief, Utah Valley University (UVU) has been coordinating with the court on the proper way to deposit the requested funds.

“No deposit deadline has been established by the Court, and UVU looks forward to competing in Las Vegas this week.”

Later in the evening, the WAC backpedaled on its threat to keep the Wolverines from competing in the conference’s postseason.

“The Western Athletic Conference has been assured by the Utah court that the $1 million payment from Utah Valley University is in process, in accordance with the court’s directive, and will be completed in the morning, before tipoff of the first game tomorrow,” the WAC said.

“Relying on this assurance, the WAC board of directors will allow Utah Valley to compete in the WAC basketball tournaments.”

The Wolverines ended the season with the best conference record and the No. 1 seed in the league’s tournament. If UVU were to win the WAC tournament, it would earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Tournament play begins Wednesday in Las Vegas. UVU has a bye to the semifinals on Friday.