The public has coined the phrase “March Sadness” to describe the 2025 NCAA basketball tournament and its lack of upsets. Clever, right? As much as I wish I could say that I thought of it, the internet got to it first. It’s getting really tough to have an original thought nowadays.
The name “March Madness” is pretty obvious. Every year, we’re used to seeing small schools like Sister Jean and the Loyola-Chicago Wolves upset top-seeded Illinois. The opening round of 64 games is usually guaranteed a handful of must-watch games. By the end of opening weekend, it’s expected to have a few Cinderella’s to root for heading into the Sweet 16. Unfortunately, this year has been quite the opposite with only one double-digit seed advancing to the Sweet 16. I guess we’re all Arkansas Razorback fans this weekend.
The result of opening weekend of the NCAA tournament was disappointing to say the least. Some could say the opposite as it showed the elite level of basketball being played by multiple programs. As I agree, I’m also a casual sports fan. I crave excitement and chaos when watching sports, especially college hoops. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of all-time moments. Like Freshman Derik Queen hilariously telling his coach to give him the ball in the final seconds against Colorado State:
Although we didn’t get a lot of nail-biters this weekend, we did get a lot of fans crying about the NIL again. Fans got spoiled from the recent tournaments and now claim that the NIL has created too many talent-packed teams, nearly eliminating the chance of cinderella teams moving forward. We even have Stephen A. Smith overreacting (what’s new?):
Either way, we are witnessing an elite-level of basketball being played. It seems the madness may come a bit later this year once these powerhouses have to meet each other. Let’s hope this tournament is not the origin of “March Sadness”. It should be an exciting weekend of hoops and my couch has my name written on it.