Cinderella is now a slasher film.
For the second straight year, no team seeded lower than 12th advanced to the second round of the men’s NCAA Tournament. And for the second straight year, the Sweet 16 only consists of power-conference teams.
Prior to 2024, at least one mid-major program had reached the Sweet 16 in 49 consecutive tournaments, beginning with the expansion to a 32-team field in 1975. Meanwhile, betting favorites went 39-9 outright in the first two rounds, tying the fewest upsets in the first week of the tournament since 2018.
The rags-to-riches stories that helped make the NCAA Tournament the greatest event in sports are in danger of going extinct, primarily due to the mammoth NIL payrolls of power programs and an overworked transfer portal that permits mid-major stars to switch schools — and collect a far bigger paycheck — without having to sit out a season, as they did in decades past.