NCAA Basketball: Why March cinderellas are becoming more frequent

The 2022 NCAA Basketball Tournament returned to normal this March with fans in the stands and the drama we have all come to expect in the Big Dance. There are some that didn’t like it due to the lack of buzzer beaters, but there was plenty of drama, upsets, a Cinderella 15-seed that made the Elite Eight, and an epic comeback by Kansas to knock off North Carolina and take home the national title.

As great as the tournament was, for me it served as further indication that one thing so many of us college basketball fans have wanted for so long, becomes even more of a reality with every season that goes by, parity is real and it has arrived.

I’m not just talking about parity at the conference level where year in and year out any number of teams could sit atop the standings in their conference. I’m more so talking about parity on a national level, especially in March. A sport where it is becoming less and less of a sure thing that higher seeds find themselves in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight with ease.

We all enjoy it when a team pulls off a first-round upset, but the tournament becomes even more compelling when that team has a bit of staying power. Over the past 15-plus years, it is becoming clearer and clearer that the gap between the so-called haves and have-nots has been closing in a hurry, and the first-ever No.15 seed to make the Elite Eight. It’s time to take a look at when the gap began to close, why it’s closing, and who might be the next not-so-surprising Cinderella.