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Three Big Ten Coaches Make List For Highest College Basketball Salaries

The Big Ten is loaded with coaching talent and apparently some of their checking accounts are the same way.

By Thomas Beindit
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Recently, CBSSports released a list of the highest paid college basketball coaches involved in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.  Clearly, the list is not comprehensive as it excludes programs that did not make the NCAA Tournament, but it certainly is interesting to see what the coaches having success are getting paid.

This list is noteworthy for a few reasons.  First, it helps to give us an idea of which coaches are perceived to be worth the most.  Typically, a coach is not going to get rewarded with a huge salary if he does not win.  Along with this, it also gives us a look into which programs can afford to pay their coaches the big bucks.  We all have an idea about which programs are perceived to be the best, but seeing how much they actually shell out is pretty interesting.  Finally, everybody always likes to see what the coaches are getting paid.

There are a few noteworthy inclusions in the list, but 3 Big Ten coaches made the list and frankly, it is not all that surprising to see which Big Ten coaches made it.  Let's take a look at the list.

Highest Paid Coaches In The 2014 NCAA Tournament:

  • Mike Krzyzewski $9,682,032 (Duke)
  • Rick Pitino $5,758,338 (Louisville)
  • John Calipari $5,511,381 (Kentucky)
  • Bill Self $4,960,763 (Kansas)
  • Billy Donovan $3,905,964 (Florida)
  • Tom Izzo $3,893,954 (Michigan State)
  • Steve Alford $3,473,973 (UCLA)
  • Thad Matta $3,282,000 (Ohio State)
  • Josh Pastner $2,650,000 (Memphis)
  • Sean Miller $2,627,806 (Arizona)
  • Rick Barnes $2,550,000 (Texas)
  • John Beilein $2,498,242 (Michigan)
  • Travis Ford $2,450,000 (Oklahoma State)
  • Jamie Dixon $2,445,682 (Pittsburgh)
  • Tony Bennett $2,291,100 (Virginia)
  • Lon Kruger $2,200,000 (Oklahoma)
  • Scott Drew $2,133,120 (Baylor)
  • Mark Gottfried $2,009,000 (North Carolina State)
Seeing Izzo's name near the top is no surprise.  Izzo has the resume to deserve those big dollars and it's why so many NBA teams are after him on a yearly basis.  Matta and Beilein are also legitimate additions considering what those two have done with their programs.  Matta has a great deal of success in Columbus in both the regular season and the postseason and Beilein has really rebuilt Michigan into a power.

Outside of these three, there are a few interesting things on this list.  First, Coack K makes a fortune.  He is an outstanding coach, but wow.  He makes nearly double what Rick Pitino and John Calipari make.  He has done a great deal of things at Duke, but that number is just insane.

Among the biggest exclusions on this list is Bo Ryan.  To think that Ryan cannot get paid more than some of the coaches that appear on this list is just ridiculous.  Drew, Gottfried, and Kruger all getting paid more than Ryan is not something that I want to call reality.

Overall, to see 3 Big Ten coaches make the list is pretty big.  The ACC and Big 12 had 5 coaches make the list, so considering the performances of the conferences recently, the Big Ten may even be underpaying some of their coaches.  Perhaps over time we will see those numbers change.

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