The Weekend In Review 3/24
Football is over, but March Madness is under way while the MLB regular season and NBA play-offs are quickly approaching on the horizon. In this week's edition of our Weekend Review newsletter we will take a look at a historic first round of the NCAA Tournament -- for a few reasons that you wouldn't expect.
March Madness Begins
It took a while for the madness to ensue, but we finally got some late Sunday night with the Maryland Terrapins advancing over the 12th seeded Colorado State Rams thanks to a buzzer beater from freshman Derik Queen.
That’s all to say, this has been an extremely chalky tournament thus far. For the first time ever a non-major conference team is not represented in the Sweet 16. For the first time since 2017, all four top seeds in each region advanced out of the round of 64.
The SEC also made history, getting seven teams through to the round of 16 – the most ever for one conference.
The quality of games should be great for the remainder of the tournament, but the element of a fan favorite Cinderella team is certainly missing. What is the cause of this? Was it just a one-off instance or will it become the norm moving forward with so much turnover year to year due to the transfer portal?
The Transfer Portal is Never Closed
ESPN’s Jay Bilas has made the point several times in the past that while the transfer portal in college sports has garnered a negative connotation – the coaches transfer portal is never closed. That was on full display this weekend with multiple coaches participating in the NCAA Tournament inking deals with new teams less than 48 hours after their teams were eliminated from the tournament.
Drake’s Ben McCollum has been on a meteoric rise in the coaching ranks and it was announced he will depart for Iowa shortly after the Bulldogs fell to the TexasTech Red Raiders on Saturday night.
Xavier’s Sean Miller has been no stranger to controversy in his career, and after leading the Musketeers to the tournament he will depart Xavier for the second time – this time heading to his opponent in the First Four, the Texas Longhorns.
McNeese’s Will Wade was announced to be heading to NC State before McNeese had even played their first tournament game.
Colorado State’s Niko Medved is headed to Minnesota.
It’ll be interesting to see how this develops over the next few years, while the transfer portal for players opens up today as well – much to the chagrin of John Calipari