The Worst March Madness Tournament Ever

Monday night capped off the 85th NCAA tournament, which had a field of 68 teams. Florida pulled off the comeback against Houston to win its third national championship, but something was off about this year’s spring college basketball tournament.

The only upsets we got in the first round this year were 12, 11, and 10 seeds with teams like Arkansas (10), Drake (11), and McNeese (12). For the first time since 2008, all the No. 1-seeded teams in the tournament made the final four.

This year’s madness was very little. The top teams like Auburn, Houston, Duke, Florida, Michigan State, and Alabama dominated. The only seed lower than the No. 2 seed was the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who were seeded No. 3 out of the West region.

Yes, we got all the top teams to square off in the final few games to determine who was the best this year, but this is March Madness. It might be an unpopular opinion, but all the teams in the final four have kids who are going to go to the NBA, and they will get an opportunity to get on a good team and go win an NBA championship. It’s always nice to see a Cinderella story like we did with Florida Atlantic a few years ago. Or when we saw No. 16 UMBC defeat No. 1 Virginia by 20 points in 2018.

My number one complaint for the NCAA right now is the takeover of the NIL. NIL stands for (N) Name, (I) Image, and (L) Likeness. The NIL tries to help student-athletes get their name out there. That's why students now have their names on the back of their jerseys, they used to not. NIL is good in all but now athletes are getting paid to play, which in my opinion isn’t a good thing because I believe these students should have to work even harder to get to the professional level or get to a degree that will allow them to have a pretty good job when they get older. Many disagree with me, however, because many believe the students should be compensated instead of just playing for nothing.

But the main issue I have with NIL is the fact that teams are now able to spend money to recruit players out of high school. The top schools have the most money so of course, they are going to get the best players out of high school and the transfer portal. The transfer portal has also played a big factor in college athletics as well as more and more students are transferring schools for more money.

What are your thoughts on the new look of college athletics, and do you agree or disagree that this was the worst March Madness tournament of all time?