Emmerson Cattich | Opinion Editor
March 27, 2025
The biggest draw of March Madness is in fact, the madness. However, the 2025 tournament has been severely lacking in that category, and without the exciting Cinderella stories, viewers are…just…bored. In comes the discussion of NIL (Name Image Likeness), which in the last couple years has provided college athletes with financial opportunities; and specifically larger programs offer more opportunity.
Looking at the current Sweet 16, the lowest seed left is 10 (Arkansas), and all four 1 seeds are still standing (Florida, Auburn, Houston, and Duke). Don’t be fooled into thinking that Arkansas is a Cinderella, despite their low ranking, veteran coach John Calipari brought players over from his past Kentucky team as well as attracted top talent in the transfer portal for his first year with the new team.
How was he able to do this? Yes, he is John Calipari and his name goes far in recruiting, but the NIL available for him, funded by billionaire donor John H. Tyson, to hand-pick his roster allowed the run to the Sweet 16 to be possible for him in his first year with Arkansas; something he failed to do in his last two years with Kentucky.
Therefore, with the only surprise in the tournament being Arkansas, which isn’t that surprising, college basketball fans are losing interest. SCHS Junior Drake Nelson is especially disappointed with the Sweet 16, as he “leaned into more upsets this year” expecting “at least multiple 1 and 2 seeds to fall in the first two rounds”. Fellow Junior Wyatt Schollenberger said he did the same, adding that he is “done watching the tournament if the final four ends up being all 1 seeds”.
In previous years, teams like Saint Peters, Loyola Chicago, and FAU were able to thrill viewers and captivate the nation. Now, these smaller programs, who don’t have the luxury of billionaire donors or multi-million dollar sponsors, don’t stand a chance against the ones who do. What is the solution? Limit the power of teams with large NIL holdings and even the playing field, so that March can actually have madness again.
Nevertheless, tune in to watch the next rounds of games March 27-30!
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