Betting isn't the only money issue surrounding March Madness, the NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Championship.

The traits of the tournament's best teams can make your personal finances worthy of winning a trophy.

Here are lessons about money you can learn from watching the games:

1. Good Coaching Creates Success

The teams that make it to the tournament have talent, but they also have good coaching. The coaches are able to get the most out of the talent and make them better as a team than they are as individual players. They also instill goals and a winning attitude in the players to achieve the most that they can.

You should also have a personal finance coach, whether that be someone actively helping you out or an author that motivates you to do the right things to get your finances in order through books and other media.

There are many to choose from, but having someone to coach you along the way will make the financial

Consumer confidence plunged to a five-year low Tuesday as tight credit markets, rising prices and worsening job prospects weigh on American consumers. But Gerri Willis is here to give us reasons for optimism.

1. Low mortgage rates

This is good news for homeowners who want to refinance into a fixed rate loan.

Today, the traditional 30-year mortgage rate is less than 6%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. And if you have an adjustable-rate mortgage, Fed rate cuts will make your adjustment less painful.

If you have a home equity line of credit, you will also see your interest rate decline. A majority of HELOCs are tied to the prime rate. And those rates have fallen as the fed cuts rates.

And there's also good news out there if you are in the market for a jumbo loan. Traditionally, rates on jumbo loans - mortgages up to $417,000 - were high because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac couldn't purchase loans over that amount.

But thanks to the economic stimulus package that passed in congress, that limit is raised to $729,000