No more Cinderellas

[molar50]

Discussion on Morning Joe this morning is that the Sweet 16 has no Cinderella teams, all Power 5 conferences. Causes include transfers of players from the portal, NIL money, and coaches leaving programs as frequent as players leave to obtain more money. Some coaches do not want to recruit high school players. It should no longer be called March Madness. Commentators stated that they are not sure how this process will play out in the future, but believe there will be less interest in watching teams. Duke looks unbeatable.

[BUBalum05]

In addition to no Cinderellas, there hadn't been a buzzer beater until Maryland on Sunday. There have been a few good games, but rather boring tournament so far. Need more mid-majors...if P5 teams don't have a .500 record in conference, they shouldn't be eligible for a bid unless they win their tournament.

[LittleBrave]

This will be the norm in the years to come the way they use the NET as the main metric for selecting teams, NIL $$, etc.

I feel like it's really a great thing now for a mid major to win the NIT as it's like bragging rights for the non power schools.
There are some GREAT teams left in the NIT, with the mid-majors dominating the field, though Loyola from the A-10 is a top-tier conf. I don't think there's any coincidence that the Final 4 is now at HInkle Fieldhouse - more appropriate for mid majors than Madison Sq Garden. Since 2003, only a couple of mid-majors (not including the A-10 which is really more a MAJOR conf.) have won the title since 2003, including Wichita St. in 2011 and N. Texas in 2023.

RPI rankings (a better indicator of team strength IMO) of teams in Elite 8:
25 UC-Irvine
41 Bradley
45 North TX
63 Kent St
68 Chatanooga
69 LUC
71 UAB
131 OK St. (only team from a power conf)

For sure it will be a great accomplishment to win the NIT this season with the teams left to battle for the crown!

[Tommy]

Discussion on Morning Joe this morning is that the Sweet 16 has no Cinderella teams, all Power 5 conferences. Causes include transfers of players from the portal, NIL money, and coaches leaving programs as frequent as players leave to obtain more money. Some coaches do not want to recruit high school players. It should no longer be called March Madness. Commentators stated that they are not sure how this process will play out in the future, but believe there will be less interest in watching teams. Duke looks unbeatable.

They failed to mention the decreasing number of mid-majors invited to the tournament, along with the terrible seeding. Those two factors make it all but impossible for a Cinderella ever again. When a team like Drake can win 30 games and garner no better than an 11 seed, what hope is there? They've basically decided that unless you're PC, you aren't going to be the favorite in any game, and the results are turning out exactly the way they want.

[Stryker]

This will be the norm in the years to come the way they use the NET as the main metric for selecting teams, NIL $$, etc.

I feel like it's really a great thing now for a mid major to win the NIT as it's like bragging rights for the non power schools.
There are some GREAT teams left in the NIT, with the mid-majors dominating the field, though Loyola from the A-10 is a top-tier conf. I don't think there's any coincidence that the Final 4 is now at HInkle Fieldhouse - more appropriate for mid majors than Madison Sq Garden. Since 2003, only a couple of mid-majors (not including the A-10 which is really more a MAJOR conf.) have won the title since 2003, including Wichita St. in 2011 and N. Texas in 2023.

RPI rankings (a better indicator of team strength IMO) of teams in Elite 8:
25 UC-Irvine
41 Bradley
45 North TX
63 Kent St
68 Chatanooga
69 LUC
71 UAB
131 OK St. (only team from a power conf)

For sure it will be a great accomplishment to win the NIT this season with the teams left to battle for the crown!

What you are you on man? NIT is nearly meaningless these days. It's entirely a mid-major tournament now that gets little attention, especially with the power teams not in the NCAA tournament in the new Vegas tournament. Also the A10 is far from a power/major conference. It is definitively a mid-major conference. The A10 has been a 1 bid league 2 out of the past 3 years. Show me any conference that is considered a power conference with only the AQ. They don't exist.

And how is Hinkle better than MSG? MSG is the prestige venue for basketball in America, and has been for decades. Does it "fit" the mid-major feel of the NIT? Of course, but acting like it is somehow better than MSG is naive.

[Stryker]

This is what I posted in another thread this morning -

And here we are a few years into new transfer rules and NIL deals, and not one mid-major is in the S16. Everyone said the the last couple of years that NIL and the transfer has no real impact...citing St. Peters, Princeton, FAU, SDSU etc. However, I would say those were flukes and happenstance coming out of the COVID eligibility rules and other factors. Now that we are fully past the COVID issues and the new rules have had time to sink in, it may be the end of seeing mid-majors in the S16 ever again. Colorado State came very close yesterday, until a phenom freshman that would never ever play at a mid-major drove to the hoop and put the game away in the final seconds.

NIL and transfer rules will inevitably concentrate all the talent at the power schools. Another argument from the big schools is that their bench players will transfer down a level to play. However, as we have seen for decades, most players are more than happy to ride the bench at a blue blood or other power program, getting 5 minutes a game of playing time, if it means they get paid and can be part of a winning program. Also by definition this argument is saying less talented players are coming down. And what we have seen is that the bench players from power programs that transfer don't actually go to mid-majors most of the time, they transfer to bottom power conference teams because the money is still better there than at mid-majors.

IMO we are witnessing the death of the sport in real time. It will only get worse.

[Da Coach]

They failed to mention the decreasing number of mid-majors invited to the tournament, along with the terrible seeding...

Yes, this year was a record low for at-large mid-major bids. If the mid-majors are not given a chance, that will always result in fewer wins and less schools advancing to the Sweet 16.

Sorry if this was mentioned, but another factor is that the Power Conferences have been expanding and have started to absorb a few of the more successful mid-majors like Houston. now in the Big 12 along with UCF, Cincinnati, and BYU.

[LittleBrave]

What you are you on man? NIT is nearly meaningless these days. It's entirely a mid-major tournament now that gets little attention

And how is Hinkle better than MSG? MSG is the prestige venue for basketball in America, and has been for decades.

I guess we are way different in our perspectives. I'm treating this NIT run for BU as a great thing, even if we missed out on the Big Dance as it should be for us fans. I don't care for MSG and would MUCH prefer Hinkle - no question!

Mid major fans should be relishing in the NIT as a great tournament especially in recent years as it becomes even more difficult to get into the (Watered Down) Field of 68. Even if the majority "overlook" it, screw them. It means something to Braves fans and to any other team (minus Ok St maybe) left!

[LittleBrave]

IMO we are witnessing the death of the sport in real time. It will only get worse.

Talk about grim - someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning! Man, are you positive about anything?

[LittleBrave]

What you are you on man? NIT is nearly meaningless these days. It's entirely a mid-major tournament now that gets little attention, especially with the power teams not in the NCAA tournament in the new Vegas tournament.

Do you realize how weak the teams are in this new Vegas tournament compared to the NIT teams? Not even close to compare.
Only 4 of the 16 teams even are in the Top 100 RPI, and you've got DePaul in the 200+

This tourney will most likely in a few years gain the same interest level as the CBI and CIT (which is now the LV tourney). True that you've got much bigger names (of teams) in the LV tourney, but he winner should not be able to toot their horn with such a weak field.

[Stryker]

Talk about grim - someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning! Man, are you positive about anything?

Lol, wish I could be more positive. Its a sad state of affairs, and IMO there are little positives to be hopeful about with the way things are trending. I don't think most fans understand yet how these changes are going to impact the sport. It could be absolutely devastating to a lot of programs.

[MacabreMob]

I'm with Stryker on this. And I don't view it in a positive vs negative way - just making a statement without any sugar coating. The Power 5 or BCS are gonna get exactly what they want.

[Tommy]

Talking about Cinderellas, did anyone else happen to see the winning shot for Maryland? Was that an egregious travel? He practically did it in slow motion.

[tomahawk chop]

Talking about Cinderellas, did anyone else happen to see the winning shot for Maryland? Was that an egregious travel? He practically did it in slow motion.

I have seen so many players travel this year and refs fail to get this call right. I wish they would do away with the Euro step and the jump step and get back to calling games by the old better rules. I also wish the refs would quit letting players palm the ball as that has gotten out of control.The 3 seconds in the lane is another rule that pretty much gets ignored all the time.

[tomahawk chop]

I have seen so many players travel this year and refs fail to get this call right. I wish they would do away with the Euro step and the jump step and get back to calling games by the old better rules. I also wish the refs would quit letting players palm the ball as that has gotten out of control.The 3 seconds in the lane is another rule that pretty much gets ignored all the time.

Because the travelling was not called it kept a cinderella team out of the sweet 16.