00:00I'm going to start off the show appropriately by congratulating Tyrone.
00:04I had UConn last night.
00:06He had Michigan last night.
00:08And this is where the debate's going to start because Tyrone did pick the winner of the tournament
00:13before the tournament began, but they didn't cover.
00:17The way they didn't cover, I picked them.
00:19They didn't cover.
00:20I made the pick on the air line.
00:22I hope people, that if you gamble responsibly.
00:25Or a point and a half.
00:26Yeah, I hope you cashed in.
00:27Yeah, there you go.
00:28Anyway, congratulations to you.
00:29You are the current March Madness champion here on the Craig Carton Show.
00:33And here's a six-point win.
00:35Michigan obviously was the best team in this tournament.
00:38I give UConn a hell of a lot of credit, though.
00:40In a losing effort, they did something no other team in this tournament could do.
00:45They held Michigan more than 20 points under their average.
00:48They didn't get to 70 points last night.
00:50They only made, I think, two total three-point shots for a team that made 11 on average throughout this
00:57tournament.
00:57And they just have enough firepower, plus UConn shot like crap.
01:01They were nine for 27 from behind the arc.
01:04And Danny Hurley told the guys, as the story now goes, as they were coming out of the locker room,
01:09to win this game, we're going to have to make 12 or 13 threes.
01:12He was on the money.
01:13Yeah.
01:13Because if they make 12 threes, they win the championship.
01:17And they got nothing to be ashamed about.
01:19Michigan's size was just too much for them.
01:22And I thought UConn did as good a job as they could possibly do.
01:25Now, the furor, of course, today is the fact that Michigan had five starters who were all transfers.
01:33None of them started their college career in Michigan.
01:35And collectively, they're making about $10 million.
01:38Obviously, the Big Ten player of the year, their best player, was making $2.5 million to $3 million.
01:43And then the other $6 million or $7 million, $8 million was spread out amongst the guys.
01:47Here's what's funny about this to me.
01:49We knew this going into the tournament.
01:52Right.
01:52Like, they didn't just show up for the championship game or the Final Four
01:56and suddenly put five dudes out there that didn't play in the first round.
02:00Right.
02:01Or didn't play the other 35 games that they played this year.
02:04And people are now trying to make this soapbox argument that it's everything wrong with college sports.
02:10Now, I'll be honest.
02:12I'm a bit of a sports contrarian.
02:13That's my nature.
02:14But I think it's the exact opposite.
02:17And let me walk you through why because I'm not sure your take on it.
02:20The fact that Michigan could spend about $10 million and have five starters who every single one of them was
02:27a transfer guy,
02:28was not a Michigan guy from year one or year two on.
02:31Right.
02:31That means that every single Division I program in America today, including Liberty, for that matter,
02:40or JMU or my beloved Syracuse, right, that all you need is a single graduate who has made a boatload
02:50of dough
02:51that loves his or her university and wants to see them hoisting a trophy at the end of March Madness.
02:59That's right.
02:59That's all it takes is about $10 million to $15 million.
03:03Now, Kentucky spent $22 million.
03:07They didn't make the tournament.
03:09So you have to spend the money wisely.
03:11You have to have the right coach, obviously.
03:13And May turns out to be a good coach when he's got good talent.
03:16I give him a lot of credit for that.
03:18His first ever national championship win.
03:20But to me, last night's win by Michigan provides hope for every single D1 school in America,
03:29that if you can find the graduates willing to stroke the checks, you can win next year's tournament.
03:36Yeah, that makes a lot.
03:36The portal opened today.
03:37Today.
03:38Get on it.
03:39And here's the other part, to your point.
03:41It doesn't all have to be billionaires.
03:43Let's take Syracuse, for example.
03:45Do it.
03:45I'm not going to put you on the spot.
03:46And I've been in those conversations.
03:47I can walk you through it.
03:48But Mike Tirico, for example, is a Syracuse alum who's made a lot of money.
03:51Let's say he says not all 10, but here's three of the million.
03:55Sure.
03:55Syracuse can go from, right now, a low point to being right there at the end next year.
04:00Now, the other part of it is, and I can tell you about Syracuse because I've been in these meetings
04:04because they've reached out to me because I know wealthy people graduated Syracuse,
04:07and they think I'm wealthy.
04:08I'm not.
04:09I lost it all.
04:11That's a well-documented story, sadly.
04:13It's a whole thing.
04:13That's why I didn't want to put you on.
04:14I was mentioning some other guys.
04:15Look, I used to be on the board of Newhouse, the famous communication school at Syracuse.
04:19And then after I got in trouble and lost all my money, they said we need $5,000 annually
04:24for you to stay on the board.
04:26And I said, good luck.
04:27You didn't have it.
04:28I got it, right?
04:28You didn't have it.
04:29But what they did was Syracuse made $30 million in net profit last year in the athletic department.
04:34Oh, my God.
04:34And they have a bank account for NIL that only has $600,000 in it.
04:38Huh?
04:38And they've come out to wealthy graduates to ask them to write checks so they can fill the
04:43coffers of the NIL program.
04:45They also have like a $10 billion dowry.
04:49Well, not dowry.
04:49Golly.
04:51What's the word I'm looking for?
04:52Somebody help me out.
04:53Endowment.
04:54Endowment.
04:55Yeah.
04:55So they're sitting on billions of dollars in endowment.
04:58And the athletic department, most notably basketball, because they have 30,000 seats at the Carrier
05:02Dome, they've made a $30 million profit.
05:05So why are you asking me for my money when you're sitting on money?
05:09Spend that.
05:10Then call me.
05:10So every division one school in America is not Syracuse, but every division one school
05:15in America has wealthy, successful graduates.
05:18Right.
05:19So for everybody else that's bitching and moaning about, wah, it's not fair.
05:22Michigan bought a championship.
05:24Yes, they did.
05:26And they're allowed to.
05:28And guess what?
05:29So can you.
05:31Like the day of the blue blood schools should be a thing of the past.
05:35I know UConn's a blue blood.
05:36I get it.
05:37Like UConn's got to think six or seven championships from Jim Calhoun to Ali now to Dan Hurley.
05:43But they also spent $10 million.
05:46Yeah, but.
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