8 teams remain. 7 teams from Power 5 plus UCONN. This isn’t coincidental. The portal has (m)

really hurt the mid-major. The kids that emerge in this tournament from smaller programs are now springboarding to the Power 5’s (Abmas as an example) & it’s turning CBB into CFB. Big schools weren’t going to sit around and let the little guys beat them in this new environment.

Follow Ups:

• No Big12, no Pac12, hmmm * - carrier9 [12:16:10 03/30/24]
• It might hurt us too. A blue blood might poach a player or two from us. * - Boredatwork [11:02:22 03/30/24]
• Is this a surprise? Given expansion - plus Big East is power in hoops - this includes the richest 80 schools now.* - Buck Soup [09:50:51 03/30/24]
• Case in point, Ohio U’s best player is a Star @ Bama * - HithemhardNchowtheyfall [09:45:00 03/30/24]
  • Yep. Mark Sears from Muscle Shoals, AL* - Champion Alum [12:10:48 03/30/24]
  • Northern Colorado's best player is a star at TN * - woodhaze [10:20:14 03/30/24]
  • And I think those kids are contacted before their seasons are even over. Its easy to do. * - buckeyecurt [10:05:49 03/30/24]
• Wasn't it originally argued the portal would increase parity due to good players jumping from buried on depth charts of - JK's Jump Cut [09:37:24 03/30/24]
  • I think that was the thought until NIL came into play. Being the 10th man at tOSU pays way better than Charleston. * - buckeyecurt [09:39:10 03/30/24]
• The Big East is a power conference in basketball. * - buck_12 [07:15:51 03/30/24]
  • Yep, not sure why he’s excluding them. The Big East schools are major players in NIL. Since those schools don’t have - Buck the Trend [10:07:58 03/30/24]
    • Yep. Creighton, Marquette, Xavier, Villanova - MaumeeBuck [10:56:32 03/30/24]
    • Thats probably fair. * - buckeyecurt [10:10:12 03/30/24]
• This will be true in all sports. Eventually there will be more divisions as a result. * - losu1 [06:29:58 03/30/24]
  • I agree with this. Money is power. About 50 athletic depts have all of it. * - buckeyecurt [07:30:08 03/30/24]
    • Ignoring fact that approx 35% of NCAA bball champs this century are non P5.... - sm buck [09:31:37 03/30/24]
      • I’m not ignoring that fact. I’m pointing out that those days are over. NIL will kill the mid-major. (m) - buckeyecurt [09:37:39 03/30/24]
        • UCONN, Gonzaga, & Creighton are not members of P5(4) conferences no matter how you try to twist it.... - sm buck [09:48:13 03/30/24]
          • If they don’t, they’re toast. I’m not a Cinderella fan anyway. I want big brands vs big brands generally. - buckeyecurt [10:04:30 03/30/24]
            • I would argue though that Alabama, Tennessee, and Clemson are only "big" brands in CFB (m) - ScriptOhio (Texas Ex) [12:09:12 03/30/24]