UNC and Duke are No. 1 and 2 in Pro Player's annual Top 10 ranking of college basketball merchandise retail sales, accounting for about 34% of the company's total NCAA basketball sales. Duke moved from seventh place last year to second this year. The Univ. of WI (UW), Univ. of IN (IU) and Purdue Univ. were newcomers to the list. The top 10, with their percentage of overall sales (Pro Player):
| 1) | UNC | (17.9)% | | 6) | Ohio St. Univ. | (5.2)% |
| 2) | Duke | (15.5)% | 7) | Univ. of WI | (3.3)% |
| 3) | Univ. of KY | (13.8)% | 8) | Univ. of TN | (3.0)% |
| 4) | UConn | (10.6)% | 9) | Univ. of IN | (2.8)% |
| 5) | Univ. of KS | (6.2)% | 10) | Purdue | (2.3)% |
LYCOS? THEY LOVE US: In Boston, Hiawatha Bray reports that the Home Shopping Network "will team up with Lycos this weekend in a campaign" to sell merchandise around the NCAA Final Four. Under the partnership, Lycos will sell basketball merchandise on a "special Internet site that will promote other products for sale" on HSN, and the net will "flash" ads for merchandise on sale at the Lycos Web site. All of the orders Lycos receives will be shipped through HSN's "order-fulfillment system" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/19).
