College sports gigantism isn’t just for football. It has taken over March Madness as well. For the first time in history, the men’s basketball Sweet 16 is comprised completely of teams from football-playing power conferences—a record seven from the SEC, four from the Big Ten, four from the Big 12 and one from the ACC. That’s the fewest conferences ever represented in a Sweet 16.
Chalk over charm. Consolidation over variety. Cinderella has been rubbed out.
There weren’t many legitimate Cinderella options to begin with. The power leagues ate up a record number of bids—14 for the SEC, eight for the Big Ten, seven from the Big 12, five from the Big East and four from the ACC. The only other conferences that got multiple bids were the Mountain West (four) and the West Coast (two)—and now they have been ushered out.
The best chance for a non-power conference program to advance to the second weekend was the Colorado State Rams, who took a one-point lead into the final possession against the Maryland Terrapins only to be defeated by the Queen’s gambit. Freshman Derik Queen banked in the first buzzer-beater of the tournament Sunday night to eliminate the Rams, and that was basically that.
Thus the tournament will move forward without one of its cherished plot lines, the unheralded underdog that pulls a couple of upsets and introduces itself to America. The only double-digit seed still playing are the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks, with one of the largest NIL payrolls in the sport and one of the richest coaches—that’s nobody’s idea of an underdog.
But keep in mind that recent years haven’t been much different. We’ve been trending this way for a while. Last year, the only two Sweet 16 teams from outside the power-conference oligarchy were the Gonzaga Bulldogs and San Diego State Aztecs—both big-time programs with recent Final Four appearances.
As it stands now, the Florida Atlantic Owls in 2023 are the last real Cinderella Sweet 16 team we’ve had. And guess what happened to the key parts of that team? The Michigan Wolverines got their coach, Dusty May, and starting center, Vlad Goldin. The Florida Gators got guard Alijah Martin. Arkansas got guard Johnell Davis.
Don’t hate the players (and coach) for bettering their circumstances and bank accounts. Hate the game for continuing to skew in the direction of the richest programs. While NIL opportunities can spread out the top talent across the power leagues, it’s not trickling down to the point where a lot of mid-major schools are retaining enough difference-making players to compete against the high-major programs.
Nor are they retaining their best coaches. Excluding WCC lifers Mark Few with the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Randy Bennett of the Saint Mary’s Gaels, every coach from a non-power conference who won a game in this tournament has either left for a bigger program or is expected to leave soon.
Will Wade took the McNeese State Cowboys to the second round, then took off for the North Carolina State Wolfpack. Ben McCollum got the Drake Bulldogs to the second round and is now expected to be the next coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Colorado State’s Niko Medved appears to be ticketed to the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Richard Pitino of the New Mexico Lobos is in the mix with the Villanova Wildcats.
That’s the conventional hiring process of college sports, of course—success at one level leads to a shot at a higher level. But this potential wholesale relocation reinforces the current divide between haves and have-nots. The Fews and Bennetts who win and stay somewhere without big-time football revenue are increasingly rare.
So here in the Cinderella vacuum, it’s necessary to give the giants their due: Most of the big conferences backed up their bids. The Big Ten went 8–0 in the first round, something that has never been done before. The SEC also won eight first-round games, then went 7–1 in the second round. The Big 12 was 6–1 in the first round and 4–2 in Round 2.
In terms of seeding, the teams from those leagues that underachieved were the No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers (out in the second round), the No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones (out in the second round), the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies (out in the second round), the No. 6 Missouri Tigers (out in the first round), the No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks (out in the first round) and the No. 8 Mississippi State Bulldogs (out in the first round).
Those who have overperformed to reach this stage: No. 10 Arkansas, the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels, No. 6 BYU Cougars and No. 5 Michigan Wolverines.
Next up will be three SEC vs. Big Ten regional semifinals: the Auburn Tigers vs. Michigan and the Michigan State Spartans vs. Ole Miss, both in Atlanta; and the Florida Gators vs. Maryland in San Francisco. There also will be some SEC-on-SEC crime in Indianapolis, where the Kentucky Wildcats will face the Tennessee Volunteers for the third time this season. Thus the Big Ten and SEC are guaranteed to have half of the Elite Eight, in some combination, and quite possibly more than that when all is said and done.
The Big 12 gets its shot at opponents from the SEC (BYU vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Arkansas) and the Big Ten (the Houston Cougars vs. the Purdue Boilermakers). And they’re also next up to take on the threshing machine that is the Duke Blue Devils, with the Arizona Wildcats drawing that assignment.
It’s a stark sign of the times for the ACC to have just one team standing, but it is the most impressive team through the first weekend of the tourney. Duke punished the Baylor Bears by 23 points, on the heels of an opening victory by 44 points. Cooper Flagg is the best talent in the tournament, but teammate Tyrese Proctor is the hottest man on the planet—he’s made 13 out of 16 threes in the NCAAs.
The utter flop by the Clemson Tigers in the first round, combined with the Louisville Cardinals and North Carolina Tar Heels both being solidly beaten, underscores the problems in the ACC. Even if Duke wins it all, this might be the weakest the traditional basketball stronghold has ever been.
Nor are things going well in the truest basketball league, the Big East. After winning four national titles between 2016–24, nobody came close this year. The St. John’s Red Storm meltdown in the second round was the big blow, but the Marquette Golden Eagles’ first-round ouster didn’t help, either. And the UConn Huskies showed all season that they were not going to be up to the task of a title defense after going back-to-back.
Maybe this joint struggle will further discussion of a Big East–ACC merger. But if there is anything college sports doesn’t need, it’s further consolidation of power in the hands of a few mega-conferences. This tournament is evidence enough of what that leads to.
The next two weeks will still be fun, of course. But there is less novelty, less delight, less improbability to celebrate. If the gap between the haves and have-nots has grown to the point where there is no longer a place in the Sweet 16 for Saint Peter’s or Loyola Chicago or Oral Roberts or Nevada—all of whom were there from 2018–22—we have lost something precious.
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