In April of 2021, the NCAA made an unprecedented change that gave all student-athletes one free transfer. Prior to this, any undergrad who wanted to transfer schools had to sit out one season before they became eligible.
The rule was later revisited in April 2024, when the NCAA ultimately decided to allow all student-athletes to transfer as many times as they’d like without having to sit out. Ever since that decision, the parity of college basketball’s national tournament has seemed to go away with it.
When NIL deals are factored in with the new transfer rules, it creates an environment that doesn’t give birth to as many higher-seed teams making deep runs in the tournament.
Since the initial rule change in 2021, only one Final Four hasn’t featured a number-one seed, and three of the five tournaments have had at least two number-one seeds left.
Last year’s tournament saw all four number-one seeds make the Final Four for only the second time in history. The last time it happened was during the 2008 season. However, last year had a different feeling because Florida, Houston, Duke, and Auburn could go right to the transfer portal after the National Championship to fill out their roster again.
While none of last season’s Final Four teams made it again, it’s still important to note that Florida and Duke both received one seeds this year.
Of the four teams that made the Final Four this year, two of them are one seeds, and all of them have built strong rosters through the transfer portal. Both UCONN and Michigan’s leading scorers are transfers too.
The formula for the big college basketball schools has shifted from bringing in top high school recruits to paying the best players from mid-major schools to fill out their rosters.
For example, Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg. Lendeborg averaged nearly an 18-point double-double last year at UAB, entered the transfer portal, and became Michigan’s leading scorer and best player this year.
This isn’t the first instance of this either. Last year, the national championship-winning Florida team’s leading scorer was Walter Clayton Jr., who was a transfer from Rick Pitino’s Iona team just two years prior.
It’s nice to see college athletes take advantage of their NIL and potential professional opportunities, but it’s the reason that being a “Cinderella” team in March Madness is more difficult than ever.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s the new system the NCAA created. Teams will have to learn how to navigate these new challenges if they want to restore the “madness” that is college basketball’s national tournament.
