There’s an argument to be made that March is the best sports month of the year. March Madness, the NBA, the NHL, the NWSL and the PWHL are all in action. This year also included the World Baseball Classic, so there was no shortage of games to watch.
Growing up, my favorite thing to watch was March Madness. There was nothing better than the first four days of the tournament, when games ran from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The upsets, the Cinderella teams, the individual performances that last a lifetime — that’s what March Madness is all about.
However, this year is different.
With the emergence of NIL deals, teams in the Power Five conferences are far more stacked than in the past. This year and last year, teams seeded 13-16 didn’t win a single game in the tournament. From 2018-24, there was at least one such team to win a game. In 2023, there were three. In 2021, there were four.
The first round had 13 games decided by 20 or more points. High Point was the only true mid-major to pull off a massive upset.
There’s no Cinderella this year. There’s no Brad Stevens-led Butler Bulldogs making back-to-back national championship games. There’s no Florida Gulf Coast Eagles capturing the hearts of fans and now everyone remembers them as “Dunk City”. High Point gave a glimpse of what fans expect in the first round but couldn’t get past Arkansas Razorbacks in its next game.
Although NIL has reshaped the tournament, the Sweet 16 still includes plenty of continuity. Nine of the 16 remaining teams have at least three starters who have played more than one season with their current coach, and broadcasts noted that 11 of the 16 teams have players who have only played for one school.
I’m in favor of NIL. Student-athletes should be paid for what they bring to their schools. Colleges make millions off their athletes, so it’s only fair students get a slice of the pie.
However, NIL has also reduced loyalty. Players are more likely to maximize their value while they can, knowing they may never play professionally. One of the best parts of college basketball is rooting for the underdog to take down programs like Duke, Arizona, and Michigan. Upsets still happen — like Iowa over Florida this past weekend — but it’s not the same when they don’t come from mid-majors.
The tournament resumes Thursday, and the highest seed remaining is Texas Longhorns at No. 11 — a Power Five program. Maybe next year my alma mater, the Saint Joseph’s Hawks, will qualify and make a run like they did in 2004.
