March Madness 2025: Bilas' path to the men's Final Four for every Sweet 16 team - ESPN

Based on the commentary I have heard and read after the first weekend of the men's NCAA tournament, fans have a lot of opinions on the state of the tournament — and the sport.

For some, the tournament has disappointed because there was not the chaos and bracket busting we have come to expect. For others, it is the canary in the coal mine of college basketball, and the portal and NIL are leading to the death of the mid-major and Cinderella.

And yes, the Sweet 16 is set, made up of teams from four conferences, all major conferences. There are seven SEC teams, four each from the Big Ten and Big 12, and one from the ACC. All four No. 1 seeds, three No. 2 seeds, two No. 3 seeds and three No. 4 seeds crowd the field.

But to all that discourse, I say: Nonsense. One data point does not make a trend.

We have had chalky NCAA tournaments before, well before NIL and the portal. Two years ago, Houston was in the American Athletic Conference, BYU was in the West Coast Conference and Arizona was in the Pac-12. Without recent expansion, we would be talking about 16 teams from seven conferences. If Maryland's Derik Queen had missed his buzzer shot, we'd be talking about eight, including a mid-major.

The last time Ole Miss was in the Sweet 16 was 2001, and the last time BYU was in the Sweet 16 was 2011. Drake, McNeese, New Mexico, Colorado State, Saint Mary's and Gonzaga all won first-round games. UC San Diego, a trendy upset pick, lost to Michigan by one possession, and Colorado State was that buzzer shot away from a Sweet 16 appearance.

Is that what we are basing the demise of the NCAA tournament upon? By the way, ratings are up, not down, for the regular season and for the NCAA tournament. And for the record — 15 of the Sweet 16 teams