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The Sweet 16 will be all power-conference schools: Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Big East. Since the field expanded to 64 in 1985, it has only happened twice: last year and this year. This year, we can now say it with three games left to finish, as they feature power conference schools playing each other. NIL + the transfer portal are hollowing out March Madness. The old Cinderella model is dying because mid-majors can’t keep the veteran cores that used to make these runs. Once those players establish themselves, they jump to bigger stages and bigger money at power-conference schools. The only double-digit seed left is No. 11 Texas. One of the richest athletic departments in college sports is not what comes to mind when you think “Cinderella.” A bracket with Siena, Miami (Ohio), Saint Louis, and/or High Point still alive would have felt a lot more like March Madness.
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