When it's not staging any Final Four match-ups, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the powerful governing body critics love to hate. The association's 11-year, $6-billion contract with CBS to televise the tournament has become a lightning rod for critics who say the association is all about making money off athletes. Not so, says Wallace I. Renfro, senior adviser to NCAA president Myles Brand. The association distributes more than 90 percent of the $500-million a year from the CBS deal to help pay for scholarships and other operating costs at all levels of college sports, not just the marquee programs. Top NCAA officials believe there's nothing wrong with exploiting commercial opportunities; otherwise most colleges would not be able to field as many teams as they do. Some of the NCAA's loudest critics want it to regulate the business of college sports, including multimillion-dollar coaches' salaries, much more vigorously--something the NCAA says it is legally prevented from doing for antitrust reasons--or to pay athletes whose talents help bring in the big bucks. But here in Motor City, where the local economy has sagged under the weight of the failing auto industry, fans and residents said the flow of money from college sports' marquee event was something to be welcomed, not scrutinized.