One of the greatest things about the NCAA Tournament has always been the Cinderella stories that emerge with double-digit seeds advancing well beyond what anyone predicted.

For the first time in nearly 20 seasons—dating back to the 2007 tournament—the Sweet 16 will have no teams seeded 11th or higher, with No. 10 Arkansas being the lone double-digit team still dancing.

The lack of upsets in this year’s field is rather bewildering, as we’ve seen No. 16 seeds take down No. 1 seeds and 11 seeds, like last year’s NC State team, make runs all the way to the Final Four.

 

But not this year. No, this year, the folks that went chalk in their brackets are looking pretty good right now, and some of that could be attributed to the changes that we’ve seen in college athletics as a whole.

With the changes to NIL and the transfer portal, hidden gems on higher-seeded teams can find more money and more talent to surround themselves with by transferring. In theory, it would make a ton of sense that that might kill the chances of seeing a Cinderella story emerge.

On Monday morning, Stephen A. Smith discussed the lack of drama in this year’s tournament and said, if it continues, could be the death of the sport.

“If this continues, it will be the death of college basketball,” Smith said, via First Take. “… March Madness owns sports for those four weeks. … What is the allure? That everybody has a chance. That’s what gravitates you.”

So, is this really the death of college basketball?

 

Well, the numbers don’t seem to suggest that.

According to CBS Sports, Thursday’s first-round coverage set new records across TBS, CBS, TNT, and truTV, as viewership averaged 9.1 million, up 6% from last year.

CBS Sports and TNT Sports Deliver the Most-Watched NCAA Tournament First Round Opening Day Ever pic.twitter.com/RrwWYyqCPC

— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) March 21, 2025

Additionally, viewership across the First Four games and the first round was the best its ever been, up 8% to an average of 8.8 million viewers.

March has always been about the NCAA Tournament, and there’s not a lot of competition this time of year to change that.