Everyone on the internet has said that the mid-major schools that are ranked low in March Madness, also known as Cinderella teams, are going extinct. While this seems to be the case, if you look at the bracket, it is further from the truth.
One important factor in the competitiveness of any team for March Madness is money. The current system of Name Image and Likeness (NIL) for college athletes allows students to make brand deals and profit from their image. However, this allows for larger, wealthier schools to get student athletes better deals, and thus attract the best talent away from smaller programs.
NIL has done numbers to break the greatness of Cinderella teams. Power Four schools with a lot of money are able to bring in any player they want, while mid-major schools cannot compete financially. That is the case that sports fans are making. While none of the 13-16 seeds won any first-round games this year, the joy of March Madness is still intact. Games like Duke versus Siena were a nailbiter, and a school that nobody had heard of almost defeated one of the best college basketball programs of all time. Even though there is a smaller amount, we have seen some great upsets in the first round, for instance, VCU’s 19-point overtime comeback against UNC, and High Point’s one-point victory against Wisconsin. This year may show that March Madness Cinderella teams have faded, but one year does not define forever.
Beyond the Cinderella teams, there have been some spectacular games that have come down to the wire, and one could argue that this is the best March Madness in years. That could make the case for the benefits of NIL, which improves the quality of games. First off, one of the first four teams, 11-seed Texas, made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen, defeating Gonzaga and BYU before losing by two in the final seconds to Purdue. We also witnessed 9 seed Iowa take down the defending champions, the Florida Gators, in the last seconds of the game, and they went to the Elite Eight after beating their rival, Nebraska, and then ultimately lost to another Big Ten school, Illinois. There were also some of the best endings to games in March Madness history, like St. John’s walk-off layup against Kansas and UConn’s last-second three to complete the 19-point comeback and take them to the Final Four against 1 seed Duke.
This March Madness has been packed with action, and even though there have not been as many Cinderella teams as fans hope for, this has been one of the most action-packed tournaments we have seen in years. The storylines in March Madness are great, but wouldn’t you rather be watching better basketball than see a mid-major school win one game?
