Written By: Aubrey Packer, Staff Writer
BORING: Where has all the Madness gone?
The famous March Madness basketball tournament has recently crowned another champion. The University of Florida, after sweeping their bracket pretty dominantly, took home their third national championship in this year’s March Madness tournament.
The tournament generally promises big upsets and unexpected wins with each round. However, this year most came away disappointed as upsets were few and far between; the wins followed team rankings pretty closely. Many are calling this one of the worst NCAA tournaments in history. In past years it would be common for a 12 seed to knock out a powerhouse team, but recently we haven’t seen those kinds of upsets. In fact, many fans have criticized this year’s largely chalk tournament.
For the first time since 2008 the final four was exclusively No. 1 seeds. This loss of excitement has been accredited to NIL deals (college athletes being monetized for name, image, and likeness). These types of deals coupled with the transfer portal have given certain teams the upper hand. Players move around similar to free agents after only a year with a team. This year each No. 1 team was composed of several transfer players, many of which started their first games with the teams during the tournament.
NIL deals and the transfer portal have given many student athletes the freedom to move from place to palace in hopes of capitalizing on their success. These rules have indeed made the game more fair for these players, allowing them to shape their careers. However, they have taken away from the novice fan, making a chalk bracket a winning bracket. On top of this, there is something to be said about the degradation of education for these athletes, with college sports becoming a business venture rather than a way to pay for college. NIL athletes must now bank on making it pro after than college rather than being able to diversify into an educational field if they so choose.
March Madness is defined by its unpredictability. For years fans’ bogus brackets based on team colors, mascots, or names have won amidst the madness. As the National Basketball Association continues to favor NIL deals the fun of March Madness is being stripped away. If things don’t change, the tournament once defined by chaos will become mundane.