The March to Madness

In the End, You Get What You Pay For

Money talks and B.S. walks. The Memphis Business Journal examined expenses and revenue for 339 basketball teams for the 2009-10 season. Duke, which beat Butler to win the national title, led in spending with $12.2 million — an average of $137,612 per player. The Blue Devils also generated $26.6 million in revenue, tops in the land.

Butler, which lost to Duke in the title game, broke even. The Bulldogs spent every last penny of their $2.8 million in revenue — an average of $33,202 per player.

According to the Journal's searchable database, Kentucky spent the most per player — $196,147. Sacramento State spent the least — $4.064.

One Shining Moment

Some people get off on this so here is the 2011 edition of One Shining Moment.

Frontline: Money and March Madness

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

PBS' Frontline takes an inside look at the multi-billion dollar business of the NCAA and its brand of amateur college sports in its new monthly magazine program that debuts tonight.

Ninety percent of the NCAA's revenue comes from March Madness.

Is Tyler a Pioneer, or Is He Being 'Pimped'?

Jeremy Tyler sent shockwaves through the basketball world last week. The 6-foot-11, 258 pound Tyler announced that he would skip his senior year at San Diego High, rescind his commitment to attend Louisville and play professionally in Europe.

He might have the talent to pull it off.

"He has more upside than any player I've seen since LeBron," said former NBA player Olden Polynice, who was a volunteer assistant this past season for San Diego High.

Vaccaro Fighting Against 'Un-American' Draft Rule

Sonny Vaccaro, the former shoe executive who is best known for convincing Nike to sign a young point guard from North Carolina named Michael Jordan, is now on a crusade against the NCAA and NBA.

Vaccaro, 69, is trying to strike down the 2005 NBA rule that forced American high school players to wait at least one year before joining the league.

"Completely and totally un-American; add to that, anti-free market," he says of the NBA age limit.

Vaccaro's workaround is to establish a pipeline to send top prep players to Europe instead of the NBA. It started last year with Brandon Jennings, a McDonald's All-American who was an Arizona Wildcat signee.

Instead, Jennings ended in Rome with Virtus Roma of the Italian League, a deal that runs three years for roughly $1.5 million. It contains an opt-out clause Jennings will probably use after this season.