Where’s the Madness? Why the 2025 NCAA Tournament Has Been a Letdown So Far

Where’s the Madness? Why the 2025 NCAA Tournament Has Been a Letdown So Far

Let’s be honest: if you’re a college basketball fan, you live for March Madness—the Cinderella stories, the buzzer-beaters, and the sheer unpredictability that makes this tournament the best in sports. But so far, the 2025 NCAA Tournament has felt, well… kind of dull.

Through the Sweet 16, we’ve been left with more blowouts than nail-biters, and the bracket-busting magic we crave has been missing. Only one double-digit seed—Arkansas, a 10 seed—made it to the second weekend. There were two 12 seeds who advanced to the second round but both were quickly dispatched of in The round of 32. The rest? Mostly chalk. No scrappy mid-majors pulling off historic upsets. No shocking powerhouse collapses.

It’s felt more like March Mildness than Madness.

While the first round typically brings at least a handful of wild finishes, this year’s opening weekend felt like a series of extended exhibition games. The average margin of victory in the second round was 13.2 points, with several games turning into lopsided romps by halftime. Most of the top teams cruised into the sweet 16 without breaking much of a sweat. The lack of drama has been noticeable.

So, what’s going on? Is this just a fluky year where the favorites are simply playing like it? Or is this a sign of a larger trend in college basketball?

The rise of NIL deals and the transfer portal has dramatically changed the landscape. With top programs now able to lure seasoned veterans from smaller schools, the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening. The mid-majors that used to shock the world are now watching their best players get poached by the big boys.

Take Tyler Perry, who helped North Texas win the 2023 NIT. Rather than running it back with the Mean Green, he transferred to Kansas State. Or Max Abmas, who led Oral Roberts to a Sweet 16 in 2021, only to finish his college career at Texas. Instead of building mid-major momentum, these stars are now leaving for a bigger payday and elevating already powerful programs.

The result? More experience and depth at the top, making it even harder for smaller schools to hang with the big boys come tournament time.

Is This the New Normal or Just a Blip?

There’s a chance that this year’s chalk-heavy bracket is simply an outlier. After all, March Madness has always been unpredictable. We’ve had plenty of tournaments in the past where the higher seeds dominated early but the Final Four still delivered.

However, it’s hard to ignore the impact of the new college basketball landscape. With blue bloods now essentially able to reload their rosters overnight with transfers and multi-million-dollar NIL deals luring top talent, the days of Cinderella runs could become fewer and farther between.

That’s not to say the chaos is gone forever—there will always be upsets. But the days of a George Mason in 2006 or a Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 feel increasingly unlikely.

There’s still time for this tournament to redeem itself. We did see a fantastic finish last night as Houston the top seed in the Midwest Region needed a last second bucket to send Purdue home.

Maybe that sets us up for some classic regional finals this weekend and a competitive Final Four next Saturday It would only take a couple of overtimes or a buzzer-beater when you’re at this stage of the Tournament quickly shift the narrative. But so far, 2025 feels like one of the most underwhelming tournaments in recent memory.