NCAA tournament: If Cinderella is dead, who’s to blame? Here are the biggest culprits

Midnight came early again for Cinderella.

All 16 teams that advanced to the second week of this year’s NCAA tournament hail from one of the five power conferences.

The only double-digit-seeded upstart that managed to crash the party is a Sean Miller-coached Texas team with a $22.4 million operating budget and an enviable NIL war chest. The closest thing to a charming underdog story left in this year’s field is a Big Ten runner-up Nebraska team making its first Sweet 16 appearance after decades of basketball irrelevance.

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At least one team from outside the power conferences reached the round of 16 for 49 straight years after the NCAA tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975. That streak ended last March when none of those schools advanced beyond the NCAA tournament’s opening weekend. Now the mid-majors have been eliminated early for a second consecutive year.

Why is March Madness becoming less mad? Why are the NCAA tournament’s giants swatting aside the giant slayers more consistently than they did just a few years ago? Jeff Eisenberg and Dan Wolken of Yahoo Sports examined what’s behind this trend and offer differing theories below.

Jump to: Jeff Eisenberg on NIL’s impact | Dan Wolken on the hidden villain(s)

Coach Flynn Clayman, Rob Martin and High Point were one of the few bright spots during the tourney’s first weekend after beating Wisconsin. The Panthers lost to Arkansas in the round of 32. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Cinderellas worried about tourney future can blame NIL

By Jeff Eisenberg

When his team opened conference tournament play earlier this month, Queens University men’s basketball coach Grant Leonard glanced into the stands and was surprised by what he saw.

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Sitting courtside, Leonard said, was an SEC assistant coach who was there to get a head start scouting and recruiting a Queens player who had not yet entered the transfer portal. The SEC assistant wore school-branded apparel just like coaches do when…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/article/ncaa-tournament-if-cinderella-is-dead-whos-to-blame-here-are-the-biggest-culprits-183114993.html

Author : Jeff Eisenberg,Dan Wolken

Publish date : 2026-03-23 18:31:00

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