The Bradford Beat: A March without Madness 

The greatest spectacle in all of sports, the NCAA Men’s basketball 64-team postseason tournament, is beloved by many for its abundance of unthinkable upsets. What has always made March Madness unique from other postseason formats is the unpredictable odds in early-round games between Power 5 teams and mid-majors.  

While the national champion is always a team that was dominant for the remainder of the season, the Cinderella stories of under-the-radar programs advancing to the second weekend and sometimes beyond are what truly draw a large audience in these tournament games. Memorable Cinderella runs, specifically those featuring 11-seeds advancing to the Final Four, include George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011, Loyola Chicago in 2018 and UCLA in 2021.  

There have also been unthinkable early-round upsets, such as the victories by 16 seeds UMBC and Fairleigh Dickinson. In 2013, Florida Gulf Coast became the first 15 seed to ever advance to the second weekend of the tournament, which stood as the record prior to St. Peter’s Elite Eight run in 2022. Additionally, it would be remiss to not mention ninth-seeded Wichita State’s Final Four run in 2013.  

Butler also made it to consecutive national title games in 2010 and 2011 coming out of the Horizon League. Just two years ago, the top three teams in all four regions failed to advance to the Final Four, setting up a semifinal matchup between fifth-seeded San Diego State from the Mountain West and ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic from the Conference-USA. These types of matchups may soon be a thing of the past.  

As the 2025 NCAA Tournament has now concluded, the sports world is in disarray regarding the varying perspectives people have on the impact of the NIL era. On July 1, 2021, the NCAA implemented a new set of bylaws, finally allowing collegiate athletes to earn money for their performance. With how much revenue the athletic programs at Division 1 schools generate, allowing players the right to compensation seemed like a no-brainer.  

“I believe that college athletes deserve to be paid for all the hard work and effort that we have to put in,” said Idaho offensive lineman Nate Azzopardi. “We give everything we have to a program, and especially at these bigger schools, these players are making the school and the NCAA a lot of money. They deserve a piece of the pie too.” 

There has been an increase of notable concerns in terms of the fairness of the playing field. It is somewhat of a double-edged sword because on one hand, NIL allows for the top Power 5 programs to have a somewhat even level of competition with recruiting. However, this recruiting change has been extremely detrimental to the majority of Division 1 programs who simply do not have the same resources as nationally recognized athletic brands, particularly those from the Southeastern Conference. 

Simply stated, schools from Power 5 conferences have more money to offer highly touted recruits than smaller schools do. While it is not impossible for a five-star recruit to decide to attend a smaller school, it is certainly implausible. Naturally, as a young adult, most collegiate athletes will elect to attend the school that offers them the most money through NIL opportunities. While this will likely prevent any dynasties from forming in the near future, it prevents smaller schools from truly being able to compete with the big dogs.  

The SEC has always been the most well-rounded conference in football while other conferences shined in other sports. Since 2004, the SEC has won 14 of 20 national title games in football. Defending champion Ohio State is just one of four non-SEC teams in this span to win a title, but the dominance of the SEC is as prevalent as ever.  

The main cause for concern at the moment in college sports is not the SEC’s continued dominance on the gridiron, but its utter superiority in the 2024-2025 men’s basketball season. For the first time in history, a conference sent 14 teams to the big dance. Additionally, this was just the second time in history that a conference has had at least half of the top eight overall seeds.  

Another record was broken when the SEC sent seven teams to the Sweet 16. Four of these seven advanced to the Elite Eight, which is tied for the record with the 2016 ACC and the 2009 Big East. The SEC’s dominance was just the primary headline of this tournament, but numerous factors are alarming.  

The first round of this tournament featured a bizarrely low number of upsets, with the only notable ones occurring in the Colorado State, Drake and McNeese victories. For the first time since 2017, no team seeded at 13 or above advanced to the second round. After two dangerous eight seeds in UConn and Gonzaga lost tough battles to eventual title game teams, Arkansas prevailed with the only upset victory in the second round.  

For just the second time in history, the men’s Final Four featured all four of the top seeds. While some attribute this to the selection committee hitting the nail on the head with the seeding, the more likely conclusion is that the competition gap between Power 5 and mid-major teams is rapidly increasing.  

Third-seeded Texas Tech was the only Elite Eight team that did not have a top two seed in their respective region. Similarly, in the women’s tournament, Kim Mulkey’s third-seeded LSU Tigers were the only Elite Eight team not seeded as a one or a two. UConn was the only Final Four team in either tournament that did not have the top seed in their region, and they steamrolled through UCLA and South Carolina with wins of 34 points and 23 points, respectively, winning their 12th national title in the last 40 years. 

To nobody’s surprise, the men’s national champion crowned on Monday emerged from the SEC. The Florida Gators defeated an SEC foe with a 79-73 Final Four victory over Auburn. They advanced to the title game and defeated the Houston Cougars in a 65-63 thriller.  

The common theme is that the elite teams appear to be getting better, while the less-established programs are struggling to keep pace with NIL powerhouses. If the college sports landscape continues to operate how it is now, there will be a lot more SEC dominance and a lot less upsets.  

Some may argue that all four one-seeds advancing to San Antonio set the stage for one of the best Final Fours ever. However, regardless of the results of these games, a decrease in upsets in March is not a good thing. Without annual upsets, the NCAA tournament will cease to be a one-of-a-kind unique postseason experience.  

To make matters worse, the NCAA has begun experimenting with other possibilities, such as expanding the 64-team format to include more teams. This would only increase the number of at-large bids that esteemed conferences receive and continue to dilute the chances of Cinderella conference champions.  

Some may see it as an overreaction, while others realize the severe amplitude and consequences of these drastic changes. One thing is for certain: If college basketball is to continue to rise in popularity, action must be taken to protect the integrity of NIL. If this trend continues without change, the beauty of college sports will undoubtedly evaporate.