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Did NIL kill the upset? Why power conferences just keep dominating in March

www.espn.com - TOP·@DavidPurdum·2 months ago
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Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams debate whether Miami (OH) deserves to make the NCAA tournament with its unbeaten record. (2:33) Princeton carving up 4-seed UCLA with backdoor cuts in a first-round stunner. Bryce Drew burying a buzzer-beater that vaulted Valparaiso into March lore. The Saint Peter's Peacocks defying the long odds of a 15-seed and prancing all the way to the Elite Eight. These Cinderella stories probably busted our brackets, but they also helped a generation of American sports fans fall in love with March Madness. Now, though, in college basketball's NIL era, that "anything can happen" feeling is fading. The shocking upsets are decreasing, and fewer double-digit seeds are surviving, as the talent and financial gulf between power conferences and the rest of Division I widens. Last year's men's tournament produced only 13 outright underdog wins -- tied for the fewest since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.…

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