With the dawn of Sweet 16 matchups has come a realization– there might be no Cinderella stories for what’s left of the season. In men’s, only one team seeded No.6 or below has made it past the first two rounds. In women’s, it stops at No. 5. Given that underdog teams overpowering is the charm of March Madness, few bit their tongue in predicting the tourney future. Stephen A. Smith was not among them. “If this continues, it will be the death of college basketball,” he declared. But are Cinderella runs all we care for?
Going by Terrence Oglesby’s update, SAS and more may rest assured knowing those days aren’t here yet.
Following Smith’s remarks, the American-Norwegian took to X to highlight another post from March Madness’s official page. According to it, TNT Sports and CBS Sports are delivering the NCAA Tournament’s Best Viewership Since 1993. The numbers, as of yet, have averaged 9.4 Million Viewers through the Second Round! Terrence used this to take a shot at the ESPN analyst.
He wrote “The death of college basketball” in the captions and accompanied it with a ‘Face With Rolling Eyes’ emoji. Yikes!
Oglesby wasn’t the only one who used the viewership count to counter the claims that college basketball was in decline. Hoops HQ co-founder and editor-in-chief Seth Davis highlighted Terrence’s remarks and wrote, “Also “no one wants to watch middle of the pack teams from power conferences.””
“The death of college basketball”
— Terrence Oglesby (@T_Oglesby22) March 25, 2025
Stephen A. Smith’s remarks criticized the NCAA based on his belief that NIL deals are ruining the league. The more successful players are lured to big-funded teams, which leads to the creation of highly talented rosters that the small-money teams cannot compete against. Since the NIL became available to college athletes in 2021, there have been some impressove runs that have countered the claim that only big-money teams rule above all. Florida Atlantic and San Diego State made it to the Final Four in the 2023 season after all.
However, judging by the current rosters, such scenarios now seem to have lesser chances of occurring again. And as Oglesby’s repost suggests, fans aren’t sweating it.
The mixture of top-seeding teams and Cinderella programs sure creates some entertaining storylines. However, they do not necessarily guarantee higher viewership, as the game’s outcome can become predictable. Last year, as NC State played eventual national runners-up Purdue, the game drew 2.67 million fewer viewers than the other national semifinal that day, UConn-Alabama. The year before that, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic recorded about one million fewer viewers than UConn and Miami that same day. Then, in 2022, Saint Peter’s 20-point blowout loss to UNC became the least-watched late Sunday Elite Eight game since 2016.
Therefore, top-seeding teams making it to the top is good news for viewership. No one counters that. However, is it good for basketball overall? That is the question Smith was indirectly asking. As it turns out, he wasn’t the only one.
Dick Vitale and Clay Travis join Stephen A. Smith in criticizing NIL for lack of Cinderella teams in ‘Sweet 16’
Despite being 86-years-old, Dick Vitale continues to be an active part of the behind-the-scenes discussion of college basketball. The sportscaster has recently been one of the strongest advocates against the NCAA’s Transfer Portal, since he believes that elite programs allegedly use the transfer portal to poach the best players from the mid-major programs. As this belief falls quite in line with Stephen A. Smith’s opinion about NIL deals affecting Cinderella teams, Vitale recently chose to comment on the same too.
“It’s chalk city. There’s no doubt about it,” said Vitale. “I mean, 13 of the teams there have been to the Final Four. Eight of them that have already won national titles. It’s all chalk city. … You know why: the NIL, man, the schools that are paying big-time cash. It’s all about that. We’ve got chaos going on.”
“This tournament has been chalk city” ~ @DickieV #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/IsW9lsVF2s
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 25, 2025
Dick Vitale was not the only other person apart from Stephen A. Smith to make his voice heard about this topic. Fox Sports analyst Clay Travis recently took to X and wrote, “NIL has destroyed mid-majors in college basketball because all their talent gets scooped up by big-money teams. 22 of 32 teams left are from the SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12. Upsets are almost nonexistent in the first two days”.
For the NCAA, the viewership numbers being the best since 1993 will far outweigh any questions about underdog teams getting snubbed. At least for the time being. Those who were looking for some Cinderella storylines still have some hope, as No. 10 Arkansas still remains in the race.
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