Is Cinderella dead?
The 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will continue on Sunday, with eight more second round games. The highest seed playing in the second round on Sunday is a No. 9 seed. Both No. 9 Iowa and No. 9 Utah State won their first round games. They're the highest seeded teams to be playing in the second round on Sunday.
The NCAA Tournament is loved for plenty of reasons, but a big one is the idea of a Cinderella team – a No. 12 or No. 13 or No. 14 seed from a Mid-Major school – making a deep run into the Big Dance.
But has NIL killed that possibility?
Longtime college basketball reporter Jeff Goodman thinks that the Cinderella teams might be gone for good.
"Favorites went 16-0 yesterday. This year's first round had 13 of 32 games decided by 20+ points. High Point only true mid-major still alive, and its NIL is probably most of any team in 1-bid league. I hate to admit it, but due to NIL & transfer portal, Cinderellas may be dead," he wrote.
Favorites went 16-0 yesterday.
This year's first round had 13 of 32 games decided by 20+ points.
High Point only true mid-major still alive, and its NIL is probably most of any team in 1-bid league.
I hate to admit it, but due to NIL & transfer portal, Cinderellas may be dead.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 21, 2026
College basketball fans are wondering the same thing
"A major cause of the reduction of upsets is being completely overlooked — the adoption of the same analytics and focus on efficiency by almost all teams," one fan wrote.
"If, as an underdog, you caught a top seed that was slower paced, defensive-minded, and short on shooting, you could beat them with a hot shooting night or a defensive scheme that baited them into taking inefficient shots."
"Also: Metrics that favor P5’s & keep good mid-majors out of field contributing to fewer Cinderellas," one fan added.
"A bit of an overreaction. VCU, Utah State and Saint Louis are all mid-majors. Also, let’s not pretend duke wasn’t put on the ropes until the very end with Siena. Also took a miracle for Kentucky to beat Santa Clara," one fan added.
"The average cost per roster for teams in the round of 32 from either the SEC, Big Ten, Big East, ACC, or Big 12 is $8.6 million. The average cost per Roger for teams in the round of 32 from non power 5 conferences is $2.3 million. It’s obvious why March Madness has changed," one fan added.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Mar 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Basketball section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.