Mundane March

It feels almost sacrilegious to criticize the NCAA Tournament, because for decades March Madness was one of the great American sporting events. And it was great. The magic came from chaos, continuity, and belief. It came from smaller programs keeping veteran cores together for three or four years and then catching fire in March. That version of the tournament is fading fast, and pretending otherwise is just nostalgia.

The era of NIL and easy transfers has changed everything. Smaller schools can no longer count on building a team over time and watching that group mature into a dangerous upperclassman-heavy unit. Now, if a player proves he can really play, the bigger schools come calling with more money, more exposure, and a much bigger stage. The little guy is no longer just trying to win. He is trying to keep his roster from getting raided.

That has damaged the very thing that made March Madness special. The parity is disappearing. The continuity is disappearing. The sense that an experienced mid-major can walk into the tournament and truly threaten the giants is disappearing. It is not because smaller programs forgot how to coach or develop. It is because the system now makes it nearly impossible for them to keep the kind of roster that used to produce true Cinderella runs.

And if we are being honest, this tournament is starting to reflect that reality. More and more, the great players are concentrated on the very best teams. Cinderella still has the name recognition, but she no longer belongs on the same court often enough to carry the old myth.

So maybe it is time to stop worshiping the old version of March Madness and admit that college basketball has changed. If the top-end talent is now clustered at the top, then build the event around that truth. Cut the field to 32 teams. Make it double elimination. Give fans more games featuring the best players and best teams, because the old magic of four-year continuity at smaller schools is not coming back.