The rise of the three ball gives these non-power conference schools an avenue to beat anybody in the country. High Point shot 40 threes to Wisconsin's 23. They hit roughly the same percentage, but just the sheer volume was the thing that kept High Point in the game against a "better team" and allowed them a chance to win.
People thought NIL would be the death of the Cinderella run as bigger programs buy up all of the talent from smaller programs, but all it takes is one random 6'3" bench shooting specialist coming in hot to uproot your entire tournament bracket. This year it's Chase Livingston. Two years ago it was Jack Gohlke for Oakland against 3-seeded Kentucky. That's not generally the type of player that blue bloods try to buy up, but it's the type of player that can send them home from the tournament early. And all of these dangerous non-power conference schools have a couple of guys who can pull shenanigans like that. Not all of them will go off, of course... but a couple will, and your team isn't safe either.
I'm a Tennessee fan and we get Miami Ohio tomorrow - a volume three-point shooting team. Wouldn't shock me at all to see the same thing happen to us. You can have pedigree, major conference clout, recruiting rankings, draft expectations, all of that, but it all means squat if that three ball is dropping for the other team. It's the biggest reason I would never attach myself emotionally or financially to single-elimination basketball. It's fun. I wouldn't trade March Madness for anything. It's also some random BS.
Vols fan here as well. My fear is that Tennessee will never get over the hump from very good to elite until Coach Barnes starts recruiting more offense. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate great defense and a program like ours that rewards hustle and teamwork. But good shooting and solid defense are not mutually exclusive skills. Personally, I hate the way that offense is played now, both at the college and professional levels with the emphasis on 3-point shooting and dribble-initiated possessions that often end up in a one-on-one contest. The game is played on the edge of a foul or a turnover instead of the fluid player and ball movement that was the basis of traditional offense inn the past.
Your comment on the NIL era giving the bigger programs an overwhelming advantage may yet to have fully developed.
You may be right, in the end, that the skilled small school cinderella will be spent out of the ability to compete.
Seems to be already taking place in college football wioth the big schools raiding the rosters of the smaller schools lopsided scores that reflect the advantage.
