Some say what makes the title of March Madness, are the upsets. It’s the games that make you fall out of your chair and say, “No way I just saw that!” People love a story in which the underdog prevails over the powerful and formidable opponent.
It’s why the stories of David and Goliath, Rocky, and The Karate Kid stories are so unbelievably popular. This year’s March Madness unfolded in a way in which for the first time in 17 years all four number 1 seeds reached the Final Four in the March Madness tournament.
To drive the point home nobody lower than a third seed made it to the quarter finals. There were no shocking picks in terms of seed ranking.
The real question is why did this happen. For 17 years we were treated to a tournament where it wasn’t all the number one seeds predictably making it to the final four. It’s no secret that Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston have relied on the transfer portal to build their roster.
Auburn had seven scholarship transfers including Johni Broome who proved to be such a valuable asset in this Final Four run.
Duke acquired five scholarship players through the portal including Sion James and Mason Gillis.
Florida had six scholarship transfers, Walton Clayton Jr. probably being the biggest pick up as he had a stellar performance throughout. He posted up 11 points against Houston. Clayton Jr. also recorded 7 assists in the final game against Houston.
Last but not least Houston also utilized the transfer portal to a large extent acquiring players of their own such as L.J. Cryer, who already has a title under his belt with Baylor in 2021.
The transfer portal to many seems to be a tool for disaster because of the way it is operated. It stays open even during March Madness. So how are these cinderella teams supposed to compete with a roster they did not prepare for. More importantly how are these teams supposed to compete with these schools that can essentially buy whatever they want.
There is not a college player on earth that will stay with a losing team. Heck, they are not going to stick with a team that has less amenities.
Granted the players cannot enter the portal until after their team loses but what real big difference does that make.
It’s like sports in this country have become so much about money that we are sacrificing fair competition. Rocky fought Apollo and Drago but he didn’t fight them at the same time.
You wanna have the transfer portal? Fine but put a serious limitation on it. Otherwise it is going to be abused beyond belief.
What makes sense is to have the portal open in the off season. That way its not an ambush, teams can’t have an upper hand they didn’t have right before a semifinal game . Heck, keep it open halfway to three quarters of the season but not during a tournament for goodness sakes.
And for those of you thinking oh well not all teams are going to do that, the fact that it is even an option is crazy. Is this sport or a beyblade free for all?
Let’s get back to reality. My hopes for change are not high. The reason for this is I was in line at the airport with this gentleman, and we were discussing this. He said to me, “ Haven’t you learned anything kid? If it makes sense it doesn’t get done. Because if it did, a lot of people would stop profiting.”
The saddest part of this conversation is that he has a point. A guy can dream though.
