March Madness is the most beautiful form of chaos that exists in sports. For three weeks, college basketball takes over. People spend the first Thursday and Friday of the tournament “working”, which in reality is just basketball on one screen and a spreadsheet on another. Even your significant other that couldn’t tell you Oakland University is located in Detroit with no association to Oakland, is still rooting for them to upset 5 seed Kansas State. Once Oakland beats Kansas State, they beat four seed Michigan, and then are officially coined “Cinderella”. They are off to the Sweet Sixteen and it is the greatest moment these young men will ever have. Next up is more blue blood college basketball programs in David v. Goliath matchups that fans watch on the edge of their seats to see how far this madness can go. That was before 2021.
Cinderella died in 2021.
Prior to 2021 NCAA athletes could transfer between schools but were required to sit out a full year. This was significant because players were required to be out of high school for at least one year before heading off to the NBA. It created a system that built basketball “factories”. The best recruiting teams (Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc.) were able to recruit the best players for one year and have them jump to the NBA. But, in addition to the best players, the 2nd tier players went to these blue blood schools to fill out the bench and work their way into the lineup. It was not a sexy job, but it was their next best chance to make it to the league.
The NBA is unique to all sports league because player’s size does not change all that much between high school and the pro level. Yes, players get stronger, but as long as they can shoot, they can play anywhere. So, why do we care, and why did the transfer portal ruin March Madness? In 2021 the NCAA removed the requirement for players to sit out a year after transferring. What this did was allow the 2nd tier players the ability to play anywhere, and right away. Instead of being buried on the bench, these players can group up, transfer to Oakland University, and create a solid, more mature team. It has created more parity across the NCAA basketball landscape. Blue blood programs are struggling to compete as seen in the tournament this year. There was no longer David v. Goliath in the final four this year. If FAU was playing against Duke on Saturday night the entire nation would be watching and rooting for the owls. Instead, I took a nap watching SDSU v. FAU. I think I watched Netflix during UConn v. Miami.
While this is great for the players, it has ruined March Madness, and it will be interesting to see what the NCAA decides to do. Not that the NCAA doesn’t want what is best for the players, they also don’t like losing large sums of money. So, if the blue bloods aren’t in the final four, who is watching, and who is paying for the fancy suites at the stadium?
My point is: I am curious to see what we do from here, but I see changes coming.