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The end of March has been noticeably lacking some madness this year.
Not only has this men’s NCAA tournament featured one of the chalkiest brackets in years, it’s the first time since 2017 that no seed lower than No. 12 has advanced to the Round of 32. If there is a Cinderella out there, it’s going to be a team fans are pretty familiar with already.
Which has left a lot of people watching the tournament wondering: What gives? Where did all the upsets go?
MARCH MADNESS ODDS: Final Four and national championship odds for all 68 men’s NCAA tournament teams
There may not be a single definitive answer out there, but there are plenty of theories that help explain why the men’s bracket doesn’t feel as unpredictable this year. While not a definitive list, these are certainly worth taking consideration.
1. The transfer portal and NIL hurt smaller programs
This will undoubtedly be an argument that gets run into the ground after this week. The theory goes that because top programs have the money and means to pilfer talent from the transfer portal, mid-majors that would normally fit the Cinderella roll no longer stand a chance.
There’s probably some degree of truth here. No. 3 seed Kentucky, for instance, recruited starters Lamont Butler from San Diego State and Koby Brea from Dayton. No. 2 seed Alabama grabbed star guard Chris Youngblood from South Florida. No. 5 Michigan took Danny Wolf from Yale and Vladislav Goldin from Florida Atlantic.
Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas Tech also relied heavily on transfers from mid-majors to boost their rosters.
Continuity is typically a huge part of mid-major success in March. When all the top players (and coaches) are leaving as soon as they can, it’s much more difficult to put together a veteran lineup with chemistry that can overcome a more talented opponent.
On the other hand, there has never been an era in college athletics where the top programs didn’t have a mighty upper-hand over mid-tier schools. The NCAA tournament has always been a great…
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Publish date : 2025-03-22 20:20:00
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