Arkansas Being ‘Cinderella’ Highlights New Era of College Sports
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas is the lowest seed that remains in the NCAA Tournament, but even that is red herring of sorts.
The Razorbacks were a preseason top-20 team and boasted a top transfer portal class.
The other 15 teams in the Sweet 16 are No. 6 seeds or better and with Maryland’s buzzer-beater over Colorado State, no teams outside the Power Four conferences are still dancing.
“You look at how the NCAA Tournament played out on the men’s side where everybody’s left is from the Power Four conferences,” athletic director Hunter Yurachek said. “That’s where it’s trending because of the resources of power.”
All three major schools that were involved in the John Calipari carousel are still alive in March Madness, not necessarily because of the coaches, but because of the NIL situation. Arkansas, Kentucky and BYU were all among the top 5 schools listed in a preseason coaches poll from CBS about each school’s NIL situation. 74% of coaches said that Arkansas ranked among the top three in college basketball NIL.
The poll is a near carbon copy of the field that remains. 10 of the 16 teams received at least one vote when asked the question “Which three programs do you believe have the best NIL situations?”
College basketball may not be dead, but the March Madness Cinderella is on life support. The bracket more than ever is becoming a race to see who has the biggest checkbook, and for once, the Razorbacks are in perfect position to capitalize on the change.
Arkansas takes on another team featured in the NIL poll, No. 3 Texas Tech, in the Sweet 16. Tipoff from San Francisco is scheduled for 9:09 p.m. Thursday and will be broadcast on TBS/TruTV.
