Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, March 7, 2013

Nobody does salary research better than USA Today. The five-day-a-week iconic newspaper recently released a database that chronicles the salaries of college athletic directors. It?s worth checking out.

According to this data, Nebraska?s Shawn Eichorst is the newest Big Ten athletic director and is already is No. 2 on this list. He was hired in October 2012. Purdue?s Morgan Burke was hired on Jan. 1, 1993 and is the longest-tenured, but he is one of the lowest paid.

Vanderbilt's David Williams in the nation?s top-paid A.D., hauling in $3,239,678. Louisville's Tom Jurich ($1,411,915), Florida's Jeremy Foley ($1,233,250), Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez and Nebraska's Shawn Eichorst round out the top five.

Here is how the Big Ten athletic directors rank under "total pay:"

1. Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin: $1,230,000
2. Shawn Eichorst, Nebraska: $1,123,000
3. Gene Smith, Ohio State: $1,099,030
4. Dave Brandon, Michigan: $900,000
5. Mark Hollis, Michigan State: $700,000
6. Mike Thomas, Illinois: $589,250
7. Norwood Teague, Minnesota: $500,000
8. Gary Barta, Iowa: $490,842
9. Morgan Burke, Purdue: $464,437
10. Fred Glass, Indiana: $430,746
11. David Joyner, Penn State: $396,000

Note: The salary of Northwestern A.D. Jim Phillips wasn?t available because Northwestern is a private institution.