With nine quintillion possible outcomes and never a single perfect bracket, the most exciting and unpredictable tournament in sports is well underway. March Madness is the unofficial name for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, which features 68 teams in four regions and annually crowns a new champion. Although the stories of dominant teams, like Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler’s 1982-1984 team nicknamed “Phi Slamma Jama,” are very exciting, the true reason for the “madness” behind March Madness are the upsets and Cinderella stories. With the introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals in college sports, however, will the “madness” that surrounds the tournament remain? Or are these Cinderella stories going to be a thing of the past? To discover the effect of NIL deals on March Madness, we can break it down into three sections: effects on recruiting, the introduction of the transfer portal, and the amount of time players spend in college.
Recruiting has always favored the larger, more funded schools. Powerhouses like Duke University, Gonzaga University, and University of North Carolina have been able to attract the top players from every high school class based solely on their coaching and playstyle. The story of “fitting into a system” or “playing for the team that first offered you” for highly recruited players is something that these players are considering less and less as they are considering where to take their talents. These high school players are now considering how they can make the most money during their time in college, goading them towards schools with a bigger market and greater connections. In addition, NIL deals can be problematic for smaller schools due to oversight in NIL deals. In an NIL deal, a player would be given financial compensation by a third party for the use of the player’s name, image, and likeness in marketing and endorsements of said third party. Schools are not directly allowed to arrange NIL deals for players to guarantee commitment; however, dishonesty in the sport has been seen for years. For example, UNC’s scandal of academic fraud and “false classes” enabled some players to be eligible to play despite poor performance in the classroom. NIL may further enable oversight to occur at the college level, as coaches at stronger programs push under-the-table deals to prospective recruits to secure their signatures. However, it is not all bad for smaller schools. Players who were not highly recruited out of high school may decide to switch to a smaller school in order to become a star of the program. These players would rather make more money through NIL deals as stars of smaller programs instead of making no money sitting on the bench of a perennial contender due to them being overshadowed by more prolific prospects. Although these NIL deals may be smaller, less lucrative deals compared to the top players in the nation at powerhouse programs, they still bring some form of income to players that wouldn’t normally make money at stronger programs. These players, like Steph Curry and Damian Lillard, sometimes become the best players in the NBA.
Steph Curry’s legendary run to the Elite Eight during his time at Davidson College is one of the most unlikely and incredible stories that is seen as the epitome of March Madness. Curry returned for another year at Davidson to further hone his abilities and advance to the next level. However, what would happen if he did return, just not to Davidson? This is the story of many players during this current age who weren’t highly touted coming out of high school. With the introduction of the transfer portal, players who would generally stay on their small teams, like Curry did, might take their talents to the big stage at a powerhouse school. In the past, this was less common, as the only reason you would transfer is if you did not like the culture of the school or you wanted to hone your skills against stronger opponents. However, with the introduction of NIL, a new, more frequent reason for using the transfer portal is to secure an NIL deal. Players who were instrumental in these Cinderella runs are now more likely to transfer away from that smaller program to garner more money at a powerhouse with greater connections.
In recent years, the talent pool in college basketball has had a sharp increase throughout programs. Players are coming out of high school more polished than ever, nearly ready to advance to the NBA. With players being NBA-ready, oftentimes they are declaring for the NBA at younger ages, with some of the highest picks only having “one and done” seasons, declaring after their freshman year. With players quickly moving on from college, upsets have had an uptick in recent years. Currently, 2021 and 2022 jointly hold the record for the most upsets in a tournament, with 14 upsets each. A common denominator of Cinderella stories in recent years, No. 15 Saint Peters University ’s making the Elite Eight and Loyola University Chicago making the Final Four, is the upperclassmen in their roster. Saint Peter’s, for example, had eight upperclassmen in their ranks during their March Madness run. NIL, however, is changing this dynamic, with more players staying on college rosters for longer, opting to make secure money in college instead of risking their careers in the league. This shift is making powerhouse teams last longer while limiting the chance for unlikely contenders to beat these more established and experienced teams with what used to be their most powerful weapon.
In my opinion, March Madness may be in treacherous waters. NIL is making the more powerful teams stronger and the less established teams weaker. In recruiting, more powerful schools are using NIL deals and a larger market to poach the best talent from smaller schools. Through the transfer portal, star players at smaller schools are moving away to seek larger, more lucrative deals and larger programs. In the tournament itself, more powerhouses are becoming more experienced in March Madness due to players staying for NIL deals, causing smaller teams to lose their usual advantage against these opponents. Upsets will forever be a part of March Madness; however, these upsets will be far fewer and smaller in terms of seed gap. With these new NIL deals, March Madness may never have the same “madness” again, but hopefully, it may make the Cinderella stories even sweeter.
