Blockbuster Sweet 16 the reward for Cinderella-less tourney

Every year on Selection Sunday, the bracket is announced, Gonzaga's name appears, and college basketball fans of a certain age recite the iconic Gus Johnson call aloud:

"Gonzaga, the slipper still fits!"

Those of us born in the 1980s will never forget Gonzaga's incredible Cinderella run to the Elite Eight in the 1999 NCAA Tournament. It seems unfathomable given the powerhouse the Bulldogs have become, but they actually entered that year's March Madness with zero all-time wins in the NCAA tourney.

Over the past 25 years, March Madness has been full of Cinderellas that capture national attention with shocking runs. In recent years, we've seen multiple 16-over-1 upsets, three different 11-seeds in the Final Four, and a Florida Atlantic team that had never previously won an NCAA Tournament game come within a buzzer-beater of playing for the national title.

And then along came 2025.

Chalk one up - finally - for Lady Tremaine and the evil stepsisters. The clock didn't just strike early for Cinderella; she never even made it through the ballroom door.

For the first time since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975, every Sweet 16 school is from the major conferences. Seven of the participants are from the mighty SEC, with the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC making up the rest of the field.

With no Cinderella to root for, the NCAA Tournament is a huge disappointment, right? Some pundits clearly feel this way - notably ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, who said that a lack of underdog success "will be the death of college basketball."

However, the NCAA Tournament is not a four-day event.

Yes, the first week was missing some sizzle due to a lack of upsets, but it's produced a Sweet 16 full of absolute bangers. Arkansas is the only remaining team sitting outside of KenPom's top 25, and the Razorbacks are about as healthy as they have been in months with the returns of Boogie Fland and Adou Thiero to the lineup.

The opening matchup of the next round has the potential to blow up the scoreboard as two of the nation's best offensive units square off in Alabama and BYU. Thursday's other early game matches up an electric Florida team against Derik Queen and Maryland in another potentially explosive showdown. Could we see another buzzer-beater finish?

The last time Caleb Love faced Duke in an NCAA Tournament game, he dropped 28 points to help North Carolina end Mike Krzyzewski's legendary career with a loss. That forever ingratiated him with Tar Heels fans, and now he'll look to plunge one final dagger into Duke, this time with Arizona.

In Thursday's final game, "underdog" Arkansas takes on a Texas Tech team that attempted 46 triples in the first round, then completely changed its approach and scored 50 points in the paint in the second round.

Friday's menu is equally tasty, with Tom Izzo looking for his 11th Elite Eight appearance at Michigan State. The opponent: an Ole Miss team that just dropped 91 points on Iowa State's stout defense. An all-SEC matchup is the other early game, as Kentucky looks to beat Tennessee for the third time this season. The Wildcats feature a unique roster - and zero returning point production from last season's team.

The late slate opens with Michigan and its outrageous 13-4 record in games decided by four points or less against top overall seed Auburn. Tigers star Johni Broome will likely win multiple player of the year awards, but he struggled to a 4-for-13 performance last round. Now he faces the twin towers of Michigan in Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf.

The final game of the Sweet 16 might be the most raucous, with No. 1 Houston traveling to enemy territory to face last year's national runner-up Purdue. The game will be played in Indianapolis, just 70 miles from the Boilermakers' campus.

One potentially negative consequence of a Cinderella making it through the first two rounds is a blowout in the Sweet 16. Last year, defending champion UConn hammered San Diego State by 30. In 2021, four of the Sweet 16 games saw a team seeded No. 4 or worse lose by double digits. Of course, there's no guarantee that won't happen this year, but evenly matched teams throughout the bracket make it less likely.

Is 2025 the new normal, or a one-year outlier that comes at the end of the extra year of COVID eligibility?

The transfer portal and NIL money are the biggest reasons for the dilution of mid-major rosters, but the portal has been around for a number of years. The school revenue sharing that comes in next year could go some way toward leveling the playing field for colleges that don't have to finance a big-name football program. However, it's probably safe to assume NCAA basketball will heavily favor the major programs for years to come.

That's not a bad thing. In fact, it's something we should look forward to. Upsets will mean more than ever, and a Cinderella run will carry added significance given the increased degree of difficulty. If the underdogs take another year off, fans will be left with blockbuster Sweet 16 matchups to keep them satisfied.

And don't just take our word for it: TV ratings for this year's men's NCAA Tournament are the highest they've been since 1993. The public sure doesn't seem to think college basketball is dying.