It’s safe to say that so far, this March Madness has been quieter in terms of upsets. The No. 10 seed Arkansas Razorbacks, an SEC program, are the only double-digit seed to make the Sweet 16.
For many fans, the joy of March Madness is watching those mid-major 11 seeds or 12 seeds make a run to the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, or even Final Four. Since that has not happened this season, many fans and analysts, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, have wondered if NIL is ruining the NCAA Tournament.
Stephen A. Smith Predicts ‘Death of College Basketball’
On the hit ESPN show “First Take,” basketball analyst and host Stephen A. Smith warned that the lack of upsets in this tournament could be a sign of bad things to come for college basketball.
He boldly stated that the effect that NIL and the transfer portal are having on mid-majors’ ability to keep their talent is going to be “the death of college basketball.”
“If this continues, it will be the death of college basketball.” 😯@stephenasmith weighs in on college basketball not having Cinderella teams pic.twitter.com/Km2HlCCjRv
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 24, 2025
Smith went on to say, “When you’re able to point to rules that were implemented that ultimately show themselves to inflict upon the game itself…that’s dangerous.”
While Smith is known for his dramatized and sometimes outlandish takes, he might be hitting the nail on the head with this one.
Mid-majors in the past were able to go year to year developing their homegrown talent and building teams that competed with the likes of the power five (now four) conferences.
However, with the transfer portal and NIL, bigger schools are able to lure away that talent with bigger paychecks, which inhibits those mid-major schools from being as competitive as they have been.
RELATED: 5 Underrated Transfer Portal Gems Who Could Become Superstars
Now, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this is the death of college basketball, as it’s really only a one-year sample size, but it is the latest sign in a long list of signs that there must be some rules and regulations surrounding NIL and the transfer portal that continue to allow these smaller schools to compete with the bigger ones.
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