Has NIL Killed Cinderella Teams? Why March Madness Looks Different This Year

GREENSBORO, N.C. — For the first time since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the Sweet 16 is made up entirely of power conference schools. No underdog stories. No Cinderella teams. And fans are taking notice.

One user, Degens, posted, “NIL did the impossible. It made March Madness boring.”
Another, Williams, wrote, “New normal. NIL has killed March Madness. This needs to be stopped.” Even bestselling sportswriter Jeff Pearlman weighed in, saying NIL is shifting the talent pool to bigger schools: “The problem is now when mid-majors make the tournament, they are just going to get stomped because now their best players are playing for the big schools,” he said in an online video.

At the heart of the debate? Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules, which allow college athletes to profit from endorsements. While NIL has provided players with financial opportunities, it’s also reshaping college basketball. Some say NIL gives major programs a financial edge and makes deep tournament runs for smaller schools nearly impossible.

Professor David Weber, who has researched NIL and published his findings in the North Carolina Law Review, says the NCAA tournament has long been beloved for its underdog moments.

“One of the things that makes the NCAA tournament maybe the greatest single sporting event on earth is that opportunity for the upsets—the David against the Goliath. People love to see Cinderella try on that slipper,” Weber said.

But now, with NIL collectives—groups of fans pooling money to fund player deals— Weber says big schools can use these resources to attract top talent.

“It definitely is a draw to get an athlete to commit and stay at a particular university,” Weber explained.

When NIL first launched, many expected major brands like Nike and Gatorade to be the primary sponsors of student-athletes. Instead, fan-led collectives are growing in popularity. A recent analysis by NIL-NCAA.com found that the average collective funding for a power conference school is $9.8 million, compared to $1,452,645 for a group of 5 schools and just $738,000 for other NCAA DI schools.

That funding gap can mean smaller schools struggle to keep their best players.

“An athlete who goes to a school that’s not in a power conference and has an exceptional year… that school is probably going to lose that athlete,” Weber said. “If another employer is willing to pay you more for your talent, we wouldn’t begrudge you for taking that opportunity. This is the same thing.”

While NIL may have cramped the Cinderella era, it’s also keeping star players in college longer. Take Duke’s Cooper Flagg. His NIL deals are valued at a staggering $4.8 million according to On3’s NIL Deal Tracker.

“We’re getting the opportunity to have athletes stay with programs longer because they’re not as worried about foregoing income or suffering a season-ending injury,” Weber said. “So in that sense, fans and universities do come out ahead.”

So instead of March Madness feeling like a Cinderella fairy tale, maybe it’s time to think of it as an action movie where superstar players battle it out on the court.