We’re well into the Sweet Sixteen of this year’s N.C.A.A. basketball tournament, and some fans still have a rooting interest—their alma mater, their friend’s alma mater, a school they have money on, or perhaps a team with a particularly fun mascot. (North Carolina State Wolfpack, anyone?) The rest of us, many with brackets in tatters, are left directionless.

So why not root for the underdog? But not just the low seed—the school that spent less money.

The squads in this year’s final sixteen come from a variety of budgetary backgrounds. There’s the fat cat (or cardinal), Louisville, which, according to the U.S. Department of Education, spent thirteen million dollars on its men’s basketball program last year. That’s just shy of the entire athletic budget for Xavier, which could meet Louisville in the Final Four. And then there’s the bottom feeder, little Ohio (not to be confused with Ohio State), which invested a mere two million in men’s hoops. North Carolina’s head coach, Roy Williams, makes just a little less than that in his current contract. Ohio’s still alive, so if you appreciate penny-pinching, you still have a stake in the game.

Or, if you want to get a little more creative, you should root for the team that had the best seeding per dollar spent. That distinction goes to Ohio State, a two seed on a five-million-dollar budget. The least economical team: Louisville, who spent the most out of the remaining field, yet only secured a four seed. The small-budget schools actually didn’t get much mileage out of their investment. Xavier (four million) has the second-smallest budget, but it only got a ten seed.

Louisville may be a poor example of fiscal efficiency, but if this year is any indication, spending tons of money does indeed help you win. Sure, every once in awhile, a rich team will run into a Lehigh or a Norfolk State and get summarily dispatched in the early rounds. But at some point, you’ll probably break through. Louisville last won a title in 1986, the era of Pervis Ellison. Since then, their in-state rival, Kentucky, has won two titles and has dominated the recruiting scene of late, with head coach John Calipari at the helm. So what’s did Louisville do? They spent more. In 2001, they brought in the big-name coach Rick Pitino (formerly of Kentucky)—he currently makes around two and a half million per year. In 2010, they opened a brand-new, N.B.A.-calibre arena, the KFC Yum! Center, also known as, naturally, “The Bucket.” For their over-all athletic program, they’ve increased their budget by over thirty per cent in past three years, the largest increase in the nation.

What did they get for it? Last night, they eliminated another budgetary heavyweight, Michigan State (nine million), putting them one win away from the Final Four. I, however, will be rooting against them.

Men’s-basketball budgets for the 2012 Sweet Sixteen:

Louisville—$13,336,649 Kentucky—$12,355,375 Marquette—$10,348,303 Kansas—$9,513,243 Michigan State—$9,263,945 Florida—$9,068,107 Indiana—$7,945,102 Syracuse—$7,532,455 North Carolina—$6,510,942 Wisconsin—$6,394,547 Baylor—$5,923,372 Ohio State—$5,251,724 Cincinnati—$4,916,719 North Carolina State—$3,947,120 Xavier—$3,929,624 Ohio—$2,162,046

Photograph by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images.