  We analyze some consequences of grand unification of the third-generation
Yukawa couplings, in the context of the minimal supersymmetric standard model.
We address two issues: the prediction of the top quark mass, and the generation
of the top-bottom mass hierarchy through a hierarchy of Higgs vacuum
expectation values. The top mass is strongly dependent on a certain ratio of
superpartner masses. And the VEV hierarchy always entails some tuning of the
GUT-scale parameters. We study the RG equations and their semi-analytic
solutions, which exhibit several interesting features, such as a focusing
effect in the limit of certain symmetries and a correlation between the $A$
terms (which contribute to $b\rightarrow s\gamma$) and the gaugino masses. This
study shows that non-universal soft-SUSY-breaking masses are favored (in
particular for splitting the Higgs doublets via D-terms and for allowing more
natural scenarios of symmetry breaking), and hints at features desired in
Yukawa-unified models. Several phenomenological implications are also revealed.
